Society for Psychical Research For The Second Time?
by Shiael9x
Summary: After a sudden dream from Gene who hasn't appeared in years, Mai decides to travel to England with the other members of SPR japan and save Naru from what seems to be a possession! But will it stop there, or will Mai and the rest find some reason to stay? Light romance in the future, but our focus is the paranormal. Rated T for...everything, really, but most specifically the blooood
1. Chapter 1

Mai glanced into her empty apartment. All that was in it was a bed, a television and an empty refrigerator. She had not been back for days. It was dry and boring. Her everyday life was also dry and boring. She pulled out a dry and boring microwave meal and sat on her hard chair.

At least ghosts weren't boring...or physically dry. Most of the time. It had been nearly two years. She had made a bit of extra money working with Ayaka or Bou-san, but it still wasn't the same as the SPR.

She slumped onto her bed, exhausted. Her day had consisted of studying, work and reading books. She really didn't know why she was tired. Mai slipped into her pajamas and sat back down onto her light converter. Her eyes found a slightly darker spot on the carpet under the window where something had been placed before. Her hand reached under her pillow. She touched the light wood and glass of the picture. Two very familiar faces stared back at her. Their black hair was flowing lightly in the wind. The taller boy had a nice smile while the younger wore little expression. Mai knew that look to be of boredom. Recalling the memories, she fell asleep almost instantly.

It was warm. A pink-orange tinged world lay before her, enveloping her. She smiled. It felt familiar. The details of the world around her were muffled, shades of grey along with the other colors. She felt a tingle, and a small glowing sphere brushed against her skin, sending warm tingles up her spine. By instinct, she looked behind her, expecting to see an entity of some kind.

Even after everything had happened, her dreams had continued. She could summon them, though. Eugene had taught her well. Though at this particular time, Mai noticed that her dream felt…sad. Though the atmosphere and sky was warm, she felt a cold tone under her skin.

Mai let her hands fall limply beside her. Flowing black hair. Smiling black eyes. Blurry white skin and a kind smile on his face. She almost said "Naru," But she knew it wasn't. Eugene. It was an illusion. It had to be. Then he moved. Several steps brought him a mere foot away from Mai.

She couldn't hold it anymore. Tears spilled over her eyes involuntarily. "Eugene…"

A sad expression washed over his face; one of knowing. A quiet "yes" echoed from his lips. She couldn't describe the feeling that filled her.

"But I thought you had gone to heaven!" Mai cried, horrified that he was still trapped on earth.

The boy before her smiled slightly again and lay his hand on Mai's head. He shook his head. "I need your help."

Why was he here? A sense of dread filled her body, rooting her down. It was as if she knew the person beside her was about to deliver a hard blow.

"Oliver is in trouble." The words sent chills up her spine. Suddenly the world seemed darker. She did not know why, but the name Oliver hurt much more than Naru. But Naru. Naru was in trouble!

"Naru…" she whispered. Suddenly, she cracked a smile, laughing. "Ahahah! Naru is in trouble? What a funny dream! Like that narcissist would ever get himself in trouble and need my help!"

The world around her _shifted. _She saw an apartment; a brick building aged from many years with renaissance architecture lining the edges. The ceiling became a bit see through, and she could see it's inhabitants. She moved closer. A familiar computer set with two couches perfectly housed two occupants. She moved closer. Naru glanced at the screed of his computer. The back of her neck tingled. He glanced at Rin, then back at his computer, but there was something wrong with him. He scratched his throat and glanced quickly at the curtains. As if he wanted to bring them around his neck. The sight was terrifying. Without realizing it, Mai took a step back. Who she saw was not Naru. It was someone else entirely. Naru never looked at anything else when he worked. Naru never got tea himself. And Naru most certainly never thought of suicide.

Mai tripped. She fell backwards, but could not break away from the scene. "Wha…what is this?! Eugene?"

He lifted her up and put her back on her feet. He seemed…far away. "Lin cannot see it. Help him, Mai…please…and tell him the truth." Eugene was fading. Literally. "Hurry…Mai, you might have to kill Naru…Mai, don't…know…" An icy sheet of water plunged over her. Eugene!

Mai sat up. Her room was beginning light up with the morning sun. she shook. In seconds she was up and a phone was in her hand. The number to Relen Catholic Church dialed on her phone. John was the first person she could think of to call.


	2. Chapter 2

**haha, so, here's the second so I don't get bored. I hope to be updating weekly. ...I hope. this is, once again a biiiit of an intro chapter, so the next one will be better. 3**

**this is a FANFIC website, do i really need to disclaim?**

* * *

Takigawa scratched his head. "Mai, you serious?"

Mai nodded absently. She had contacted the entire group, though Bou-san, John and Miko-san had been the only ones to show. The others would not answer their phones. _Though if I tell Masako Naru is in trouble, she would skip down here before I can say anything else. _

"I thought you said Eugene was in heaven."

Mai shook her head. "No. it was definitely the same type of dream. It was definitely Eugene, too. And I saw Naru. Bou-san, Naru is possessed. And it is really powerful. The ghost might make him commit suicide!" Mai leaped up from her chair only to be pulled down by the priestess.

Takigawa sighed, looking worried. "I understand your fear, Mai. We are all worried. But we can't get a flight to England so easily! We just have to count on Lin to take care of Naru until we can get there. Ok?" Mai nodded, solemnly. _But Eugene said Lin could not tell!_

Mai shook her head. There was one thing that was still bothering her. "Hey, Bou san?" he glanced up from the phone book. "Yes?" Mai hesitated. If she told him what Eugene had said…she sighed. "Never mind."

She paced. The room wasn't large enough to get the length she wanted, it seemed. Back, forth. Back, forth.

Back, forth.

Ayako tapped her finger on the desk. Abruptly she stood up, shouting. "Alright, little girl, I have had _enough!_ Sit down!"

She shoved the younger woman onto the couch and stood menacingly in front of her. Ayako placed her hands on her hips in a womanly fashion and began her lecture.

"Look, kid, I know you're worried! But isn't it completely unfounded? Little Kazuya Shibuya isn't exactly a pushover, Mai! Even if you go to London, what exactly can you do for him? Mai, you are far from a professional! How can you—we, how can _we _trust the words of a spirit supposedly gone two years ago? You are being ridiculous!"

The former monk stood up and placed a hand on Ayako's shoulder. "Ayako, you went too far. When have her dreams ever been inaccurate? She even had an out of body experience once. Ask Masako." The red haired woman crossed her arms and glanced toward the grey carpet.

Mai let her head fall onto her knees. She knew perfectly well they would react this way, but it still hurt. She struggled to keep her tears in, transforming her dread to anger. Clenching her fist, she sat up.

"Alright then. Say you're right. My dream was just a dream. No actual relation to the real Naru whatsoever. If so, that just means that I am either so pissed off at him for leaving I am seeing him commit suicide so that I will feel like doing so myself or maybe I simply desperately need to go to London. Either way, it leads to seeing Naru." Mai clenched her teeth at the thought of the pain she had felt a year ago. It had ended so fast, and the only thing she was left with was a picture. Her eyes unconsciously flicked toward the small frame atop the shelf. It was angled toward her bed next to pictures of her deceased parents.

She had thought she accepted it. The tears that day should have been her last. One of her best friends (one sided)…and crush (also one sided)…had been merely a fleeting happiness. Even so, she could not stop the hot drops from falling from her eyes.

"I guess…I can't be sincere either…" The monk tapped his fist against the side of her head.

"_Baka!_ Idiot! That's what we were waiting for! Admit that you just really want to see the professor and I'll go with you." He grinned boyishly.

Mai gaped at him for a moment then quickly recovered. She felt her cheeks heat up as she confessed, "Okay, happy? I really want to see Naru! But I really did have that dream!"

Ayako looked skeptical. Suddenly, the door slammed open, breaking the silence. Madoka rushed in a panic, asking of the situation. The group sat stunned.

"Nice ta see ya, ma'am!" John's drawl drew everyone's attention to the cell phone he was carelessly waving in his hand. Mai gasped.

"John!"

The woman's rage was a hurricane, sweeping through the room and destroying fragile objects. "Mai! If you had told me it was urgent I would have closed shop! What are you playing at? I knew all along if that kid was left alone he would get himself in trouble! Why didn't you call me!" She gasped for breath. The door slammed behind her.

Mai shrank further into her chair. "Madoka-san, I _did_ call you!"

John grinned mischievously. "So did I!"

Ignored by the ghost hunter, he chuckled. "Well, what do you say, Takigawa-san? Should we ask her?" The other man nodded slightly.

"I think so. She might be our only chance." The monk frowned in displeasure. "We sure are jumping on this, aren't we."

Mai, flustered at unclear situation began to open her mouth, but a shout from the priestess quieted her. Ayako lifted her eyebrows and opened her lipstick lined mouth before shouting, "No way! SPR!" The monk rolled his eyes.

"So, how about it, Madoka?" he said. "Can you do it?"

The edges of her mouth twitched. With a mischievous spark in her eyes, she concluded, "you betcha."

"_Hello, yes, I understand, be right there!"_ Mai shouted eagerly—in English.

The monk shot her a flat look. "Hey, kid, stop talking in English. I don't know when the heck you got so fluent. Was this some special secret?" he took the phone out of her hand. "_Moshi moshi? _Hello? John, I swear, this kid…"

Mai shot him a secretive grin and ran to the door, a small suitcase in her arms along with several books on parapsychology (in English as well). She chuckled to herself. "What, am I turning out like Naru? Always reading books like this." Her heart thudded inside her chest. _I'm going to London. Actually going to England!_


	3. Chapter 3

**I like this chapter. My first reader said it had good imagery. it just makes me happy, like seeing good friends again. **

**I. Do. Not. Own. Ghost. Hunt. if i did, it wouldn't have ended!**

* * *

The seat rattled pleasantly as the wheels of the plane brushed the black surface on the ground. With a jolt, it landed, and Mai felt her body sink into the seat for a moment before rising again. Seconds later, she came to a stop. The young Japanese girl couldn't have leaped off the plane faster.

Mai's tennis shoe tentatively touched the black top. She released the rail and slung her pack over her shoulder. A gust of wind rustled her hair as she gazed at the obsidian sky. It was cloudy, but a hint of the moon still shone from under the clouds. Mai turned her gaze to the white glow lifting off of the city. Victorian style buildings as well as modern ones stood close to each other, though not as much as japan.

The girl heard the others call out behind her. She proceeded to walk closer to the airport and flew to the door, where the others called a taxi. Mai's chest throbbed as she got closer. Madoka broke the silence. "Mmm, see that brown apartment, Mai? She nodded anxiously.

The car slowly rolled to a stop aside the red and brown bricked building. It was one floor high and had several separate rooms. Aside the door was a small bronze plaque that read in delicate, cursive letters "Society of Psychical Research" then in smaller letters "Eugene and Oliver Davis." Mai's heart sank as she read the first name and noticed the age of the plaque. She hesitated before swinging the wooden door open. Her head pounded. Mai tentatively stepped into an office covered in a faded velvet carpet. It was a room for guests, and it lead to several other doors. A young man at the counter turned his eyes up to Mai and companions and asked in a businesslike tone: "May I help you, miss?" before spotting Madoka where he began to yell "MISS MA—!" Madoka gritted her teeth and smiled in a painful way while lunging forward to cover the man's mouth with her hands. His eyes flashed in understanding. "erm, do you want to make an appointment?

Mai giggled as her fingers touched the cold steel of the door handle leading into the back room. One door opened. He wasn't there. The second before she was about to open the redwood door before her, it creaked open. Mai froze. Standing before her was Oliver Davis, also known as Naru.

Naru froze, a look of pure shock on his face. Behind her, Mai could hear Madoka whistle aggressively.

Naru, still wearing the same expression, grabbed the door and slammed it shut violently. Mai could feel a touch of anger coloring her cheeks. "Naru... you…IDIOT!"

The group of reunited people sat silently facing each other. Mai gritted her teeth, purposely swinging her heated face _away_ from her old boss. Takigawa tapped his glass on the wooden table next to him. Ayako breathed a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes, arms crossed. Lin stood beside Madoka, looking slightly exasperated as she suppressed giggles. Naru glared icily at the wall opposite him.

As if struggling not to speak, he managed, "_What_…are you doing here."

Mai and Madoka exchanged glances. _Lie time~! I'll leave that up to you, Madoka!_

Madoka sighed, exasperated. "Well, Naru, as you probably know, Mai graduated from her school in class B," she said, earning a look from Naru. "Since she became such a great investigator and I was coming back here anyway, I invited her to work for me."

"That doesn't explain the presence of everyone else in this room." Mai chuckled at the familiar attitude of the ghost hunter.

"I wanted them to come too." Madoka shot back.

Naru and Lin flinched. They knew Madoka was on too good of terms with his family and the SPR to resist.

Mai awkwardly stood up, the last of the Japanese SPR to leave the room. She turned and glanced back.

"Hey, Naru."

The man grunted. He was two years older, and somehow even more handsome.

Mai grinned. "See you tomorrow!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! well, i had to update because I found a mistake in my last chapter and am really OCD, so i had to tell y'all. I put Haruka in for Madoka on the third paragraph or so, probably cause i was writing a Shinrei Tantei Yakumo one-shot at the time. So, sorry about that. **

**Hmm, what else? nope, i don't own ghost hunt. **

**Special thanks: to renee98 who posted the first review on this project and encouraged me to write another chapter. Thank you for the inspiration 3**

**if you see any big mistakes, please don't hesitate to notify me!**

**thanks!**

* * *

The next day was as painful as the previous, without a doubt. Naru repeatedly was caught staring with a shocked expression at everyone Mai had brought with her. Mai herself had been asked to make tea countless times.

Oliver Davis glanced at the door, waiting for his tea. The smell of English black tea filled the room as the door opened. Mai peeked her head in, grinning, as usual. He closed his eyes, mentally shaking himself. _What did I ever do without her tea? _He thought, taking a small sip.

"Im gonna go help Madoka, see you, Naru." Her English was hardly flawed at all. _Just how hard did this kid study?_

"Mmm." Though his face never did, his heart smiled a bit.

* * *

Mai clicked the door closed, and left him in silence. As soon as she was far enough away, a new emotion overtook him, one not his own, but he didn't notice. His eyes glazed over slightly.

Mai stood outside Naru's door, heart pounding. He didn't look possessed in the slightest. Was Eugene inaccurate? But she had definitely seen… She sighed and grabbed her tea. After work, she would do some research.

With Madoka's sources, she had somehow gotten a hold of a key. She turned it in the lock and entered the office. Naru and lin had been far gone hours ago.

"Ahh, where should I look first?"

mai frowned. Of _course _Naru locked the door to his office. She would have to pick it.

"Yasu taught me well!" she exclaimed as the door popped open.

"Files, files…Here!"

Mai flipped a black leather book open and began to read from two months before. The notes were all in English. Mai grinned at herself for becoming fluent. _Took a lot of work, but it was worth it!_

Naru's notes were as usual, fairly dry. Mai discovered several facts about parapsychology every time she read his files. Suddenly, the writing changed slightly, as if written by a different hand. Mai froze. This was what she was looking for. She flipped a few pages back. The date on the page was march ninth, and the location somewhere just outside of Hackthorn cliff. Mai gasped. A note clipped to a picture of the mansion read 1614 next to a highlighted part of the picture. Mai raised her eyebrows. Still there from 1614? The hackthorn area was one famous for its old mansions, and London was famous for it's hauntings. Mai began to read his notes aloud.

"The lady of house bridgefall, Unknown age or cause of death. Likely died around the early 1600s, cause of death unknown. Has been seen several times by visitors but never by the owner himself. Reported knockings and or screams, as well as frequently appearing and disappearing bloodstains. No malicious activity reported."

Mai flipped a few pages. "_Lin caught a definite bloodstain on tape, but disappeared both on cameral and off. Six suicides have happened in the last sixty years…ghost is said to stay away from knives?_ How do they know that?" mai frowned. "They probably chased her with it or something…I wonder if Naru would notice if I took these files. I think this must be the person that possessed him, cause after this case his handwriting starts getting weird here and there…" Mai gasped. "Time to sleep!"

* * *

Mai woke with a start to see Eugene's kind face staring at her. She grinned and immediately started babbling the finding of her recent endeavors. The younger version of Naru smiled.

"you got it. Good job, mai." She blinked. What?

"huh?"

"You probably got it right. It is definitely that ghost."

Mai frowned. "Hey, Eugene, if the ghosts is afraid of knives, than shouldn't it be afraid of death? Do you think all of the suicides have been caused by possession?" The comment set him off a bit. Finally, he nodded.

"Maybe…she was just tired. If you wanted to die, but were terribly afraid of a certain death, like a car crash, would you drive yourself off a bridge, or find another way?" Mai nodded, slightly. Her mother died in a car crash. She would not want to die that way.

"So," she began, "She was…killed by knives?" he nodded.

"More than likely." Mai shivered. If she had another dream…it would be bad. She had experienced countless astral projections concerning first person deaths, so she was a lot more tolerant, but it still affected her. If it didn't, she wouldn't be human.

"See you, Gene." He nodded and smiled as she slipped away and sat up.

An analog clock ticked annoyingly, and she glanced at it. "AAAAAAAAH!" She cried, horrified. Naru would be back in less than an hour! Just how long had she slept?!

Mai rushed out of the office, locking the doors on the way out. Everything she had touched was back to normal. But…Mai felt horrible shivers run up her spine. Naru was psychometric. What if he suddenly saw? She shook herself from her trance and ran.

* * *

Ayako gaped. "You _found_ the _ghost?_" Mai nodded.

"Yeah, I found it. She was murdered, with knives, and has caused several people to 'commit suicide.'"

She sat in her room—a hotel room provided by the SPR for the likely short time they would be there—with Mai. Takigawa had a room to himself until Yasuhara and John arrived. Masako would likely not come. She was the only one who was not at least minimally proficient in the English language.

Mai tapped her foot on the floor. She had found the identity of the ghost, but the problem lay in exorcising it. That didn't matter. She and the others took a taxi and arrived at the Naru's SPR a short time later.

* * *

Naru opened the door. He gave the company a flat, irritated look and turned and walked back to his book, door open.

"Mai."

She jumped, blushing slightly. It was the first time he had initiated and addressed her since her arrival.

"Yeah?"

The grey eyes narrowed to a smirk and he snickered, "Tea."

Mai fumed. "Someday, I hope you get a heart attack caused by English tea leaves and GUILT caused by ABUSING your EMPLOYEES!" she snapped.

Naru grinned sadistically. "Oho, trying to be smart today, are we?"

Mai, unable to contain her irritation, stormed out of the room to make tea.

When she returned, she placed the cup on his lap to irritate him. in her absence, the conversation had somehow turned to the Urado case. Bou san shivered.

"Uhg, remember when Masako disappeared? Then Mai performed her first OBE?"

"That was terrifying!" Mai chimed in.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Mai, remember when Takigawa went all goo-goo eyes over the fake Davis?" Bou-san spat tea as Ayako finished.

Naru snickered. "I thank you for your deep admiration, Mr. Takigawa. I am quite extraordinary, aren't I?"

"Hey, shut up narcissist!"

Naru calmly took a sip of tea.

"Yeah, that was a really scary case. That old creep pulled an Elizabeth Bathory and—"

Naru's hand let go of his tea, letting the glass shatter on the floor. With a shocked look on his face, He lost consciousness.

Mai gaped. It seemed Naru the narcissist, shower of no emotion, had fainted.


	5. Chapter 5

**alright, couldn't help but update. I've' been getting a lot of reviews, so thank you guys! hm. I wonder when the next chapter will be done?**

* * *

"Naru? Naru, where are we going? _Oliver!" _Mai spat, nervous.

The man jumped as his English name was spoken. "Since when did you give yourself the liberty of calling me by my name?"

Mai grimaced. "Not like I _wanted to._ Where are we going, Naru? You just faint and then suddenly tell me to jump into a plane with a week's worth of clothes in an hour and now I don't even know where we are landing!"

He gave her a bored glare. "If you _must _be so persistent, Mai, we are _going_ to Hungary." Irritated, she glanced at Lin, who sighed but answered her.

"An SPR lecture concerning a Hungarian parapsychologist in the early 1800s takes place in the Sárvár castle. Naru is required to attend. He likely brought you for your own benefit."

Mai raised her eyebrows, hiding a bit of a grin. _Stoic-face just explained something to me! That is likely the longest sentence I have ever heard from him! _

Mai glanced back at Naru, who was buried in his book. She glanced at the title, and found herself even more bewildered. _NARU IS READING FICTION?! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?_

"Nee, Naru, what book you reading?" Mai leaned toward him, feigning ignorance, just to see his reaction. Her head rested lightly on his chest. She blushed.

Naru tensed and snapped his book shut. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

Mai stuck her bottom lip out, glaring. "Oh, hand it over!" was deflected by "now why would I have to comply to you?" Mai, practically wrestling the book out of his hands, fell into his lap, successfully clutching the book in her arms. She looked up to see Naru's surprised face, which made Mai freeze for a moment before she realized her position.

Needless to say, Mai sat up faster than thought possible, awkwardly flipping through the book. She read the title with a whisper "_Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy…" _as she felt as though she had just learned something important about the friend sitting next to her. She grinned when he snatched it out of her hands, shooting her a look that said, "don't mess around."

When Mai continued to stare, he explained, "What do you take me for! Even _I _can read something other than parapsychology books, as I had hoped _logic_ could explain." The girl merely replied with a laugh and fell asleep, contented.

* * *

The castle was stunning. It was white turned to cream with red roofing and a long, bridge-like entranceway stretching to its heart. Mai groaned as the irritatingly bright sun shone into her eyes. The second they set foot off the plane, it was Ayako's turn to gape in awe.

"Woah! What is this? It's beautiful! I wish we lived in a home like this, don't you, Mai?"

Mai smirked. "As if a normal person could afford something like that. Even if I could, I don't think I would be able to enjoy it just knowing how much money was put into it…" Mai stopped to gasp as she climbed the steps to the bridge. "It _is_ amazing, though, isn't it?"

The company (lacking Takigawa and Madoka to take over the shop) was completely absorbed in the surroundings. They had been to many traditional Japanese mansions, but never a European castle. Mai glanced at Naru protectively. _If he really _is_ possessed, then a castle would be the worst place for him to be, especially the dungeons. The ghost is from the same time period as this castle, so any occurrences can and probably will be problematic. We have to keep close watch. _

* * *

The lecture itself was long and dry, but very informative. Mai fell asleep halfway. At the end of the lecture, the majority immediately went either back to their hotels or hurried to greet the speaker, an _ancient_ college professor. Mai grinned. "Time to explore~!" She leaped down the stairs and made a B-line for the most notorious place of all: the dungeons.

A/N) I don't exactly know if there _is_ a dungeon in Sárvar Castle, but for the sake of the storyline, we'll say there is ;)

Mai froze. The temperature in the room was cold. Too cold. On a hot, summer day like then, it should have been pleasantly cool, but it was below zero at the least. Cautiously, she took another step. The farther she walked, the more she knew something was wrong. Suddenly, everything faded.

The girl sat up. Her body moved on its own. Mai knew almost immediately what was about to happen. Only one situation did body paralysis occur. Mai felt her head look down, and as she got a glimpse of her clothes, she knew she was right. She was wearing a light pink, filthy garment that was obviously very old and very beautiful if it was clean. Mai knew it was from the Victorian age, but she didn't get another chance to look as her hair was violently pulled back. She coughed sickly.

Mai did her best to struggle as she was pitched toward a darkly lit hall. The stench that followed only emphasized the scene before her. Deep in her mind, a part of her consciousness remembered something from the Urado case: _Elizabeth Bathory, one of the most notorious female serial killers, married at 14 and moved to a castle in Sárvár where she committed the majority of her crimes. A little known figure… _Mai felt chills run up her spine. Elizabeth Bathory, the woman who murdered young females and bathed in their blood after torturing them. The torture was said to have been by needles, knives, and the biting off of features and limbs. Mai saw she was right.

A woman perhaps in her late twenties traced a sharp knife down the breast of a girl pinned to a board. She lifted the piece of skin and reached underneath it, smiling serenely as she attempted to rip the flap of skin from the flesh with hands slippery in blood.

Mai's stomach heaved. She tried to shut her eyes, but remembered in horror she had no control over her body. Greasy hands yanked her face toward the young woman, and no matter how far away she looked, her peripheral vision caught the sight of crimson and white of bone. Though her sight was blurred by tears, her ears very much caught the blood curdling screams of the girl as her flesh and bones were carefully torn from her chest to reveal her bare heart. Mai threw up again as the screams came to a halt. The smell of excrement mixed with that of blood.

She screamed. It was all she could do as the body on the board was tossed in a bin alongside several others. Strong hands shoved her against the slippery board and her dress was cut roughly from her figure. Her arms are strapped to the side as if on a crucifix and legs spread and strapped as well. The witch before her returned to her table full of instruments and retrieved a dull blade as long as her forearm. Mai's eyes widened in shock as Elizabeth slowly brought it to her stomach. A searing pain shot through her spine and Mai sobbed pleads and protests. The woman brought the knife lower.

The A cold sliver of metal punctured her skin.

* * *

hehe, cliffhanger!


	6. Chapter 6

**alright, here's today's chapter. I just can't wait a whole week. i love writing too much! **

* * *

"Mai?"

"Mai!"

The dreamer woke up too late. Her eyes flashed as the cold floor of the dungeon pressed against her back, the voices echoing in the empty hall bringing her back to reality. It was Naru.

Mai shot up. Her face contorted to a stoic, little expression mask to cover her horror. She shakily walked out of the room, trying to hold herself up as the shadows of the palace she stood in faded away. She released a breath and lifted her shirt, feeling for a cut, and blood. She fell to her knees when it wasn't there. It had really been a dream.

"Oh my god, are you Ok? Mai, Answer me!" She heard Ayako shout distantly.

"She probably had a dream. Get her out of here!" Naru.

Struggling to come back to reality, Mai nodded slightly. Experience made her better with such dreams, but she could never completely overcome her feelings. It was only human. Strong arms reached around her shoulders, helping her stand and walk, though she was unaware of her surroundings until as they rushed her out of the castle and back to the hotel ten minutes away.

* * *

Naru handed her a cup of tea. _ How nostalgic, _she thought.

He sat down on the chair next to her bed, waiting for her to recover while looking at her expectantly. Mai shook her head.

"I don't want to talk about it yet, Naru. Sorry." He seemed to accept, nodding while leaving the room. Mai was sure his thoughts were something along the lines of _"if she can't talk about it, forcing her would only get worse results." _

As soon as he disappeared out the door, Mai's eyes glared at the older woman. "Ayako."

She seemed surprised. "Yes?"

Mai dropped the bomb. "I think I know how to save Naru."

* * *

Ayako gasped. "You _what_?"

Mai shrugged. "well…I _think…_"

The older woman glared at her, words unneeded. Mai felt obliged to explain. "Well, see, I had this dream, 'ya know. I am ninety percent sure it was Naru's ghost. Just a hunch. But it was in first person and everything, and she was killed with knives in a…" Mai shuddered. "In a really brutal way. If I were her, I wouldn't want to get near knives ever again, and since ghost can feel again once they are in a person's body, if we strap Naru down and pretend to hit him with a knife and trap the ghost, then we should be able to exorcise her, if by force." Mai grinned at the amount of thought she had put into the plan.

Ayako stared blankly. "You want to_ strap down Naru?_"

"That's _not_ the problem here!"

* * *

The party stared at each other, completely stupefied. Once again, Takigawa answered her. "Mai, you serious?"

Lin remained silent, as usual, but with a look of complete shock draped across his slanted features.

"Woaaah, Lin, that's the best expression I've seen you make yet!" Madoka screeched eagerly.

Ayako nodded, supporting the awkward Mai. "Looks like it's time to bring in Father Brown."

* * *

John had nearly the same reaction when he first heard. They had called him, pleading him to come, and his pastor had agreed readily, spouting something about establishing relations in London. Now, he sat there, still bewildered. _Whatever happened to our cute little Mai? When did she gat like this? _He thought.

Ayako walked by him, waving, and plastered several Japanese charms on the inside of Naru's door and hid them under a coat. She hummed something lightly and hurried back, reporting to Mai with a rare smile. The blonde priest shook his head again.

Lin also nodded to Mai, something that _never_ happened, and proceeded to hide in Naru's closet. Takigawa was busy changing into monk's clothes.

"Mai, you really want to_ strap down_ Naru?" John asked, hesitant.

The girl spun sharply toward him, shouting something incoherent. "Completely irrelevant!" She sniffed, running to help Lin, who wore an unchanging expression of shock as a black coat drifted over his face.

"John, get ready! He'll be here soon and we can't have him suspect anything!"

The Australian nodded absently.

* * *

Shortly after, the black haired man stormed into his office, carrying files, and slammed the door shut. They all anticipated the inevitable "Mai! TEA!"

Sure enough, "Mai, _tea_!" The monk snickered at the sudden shout.

Mai grinned and nodded slightly at all of them, earning an affirmative wink from Madoka.

Seconds later, she appeared ordering Takigawa and john to strap Naru to his own chair, which he was motionless and asleep in.

"Mai?!" She glared in response.

They obliged.

John stood over his body, whispering a psalm.

Suddenly, the dark grey eyes flipped open and _something _glared back at them.

John had done his job well.


	7. Chapter 7

Mai stared into Naru's eyes. They frowned slightly, but were widened in masked fear. The expression he made was definitely feminine. Mai tore her expression away from the possessed Naru as Ayako burst in, chanting Shinto sutras.

"In the beginning was the word, and the word was god, and the word was with god…"

"senda makaroshada sokutaya un tarata kan…"

Mai lifted her hand. It shook, more from hesitance and guilt more than from the weight of the knife in her hand. She just stared angrily as Naru's…the woman's eyes widened. Mai knew if she did not act this right, she would fail. She smiled. Grinned, with nothing more than a dead, sadistic look in her eyes. Her breath caught in her throat as she traced the space above Naru's breast where the girl had her skin ripped off.

Mai addressed the woman that was in Naru's body. "Where…should I start?" She moved the tip of her knife to the spot right below the sternum, then to below the diaphragm, then to his throat. Her eyes flashed. With a jerk, Mai pulled Naru's head back by his hair and swung the knife at the pale, bare throat. Naru convulsed.

In one, swift movement, Ayako pasted a paper charm on Naru's chest and an inhuman whistle ripped through the air as Lin let loose his _shiki. _Something screamed.

In less than three seconds, when all of their abilities converged, everything froze. A hand moved Mai's to the side, and she felt her mouth shout something that wasn't her words. A pulse rushed through the air, and the room was silent.

_Thank you, Gene, _she whispered.

* * *

Naru stirred in his now peaceful sleep. Mai exchanged glances with Ayako. "It's over, isn't it, Mai," she sighed before collapsing on the ground.

Mai nodded. "Yeah, but… I don't plan on leaving this idiot to get possessed again."

Ayako smiled in agreement.

* * *

Mai opened the door to the SPR, awaiting a nice, warm atmosphere and a completely back to normal Naru. She took a step, wiped off her shoes, and came face to face with Naru. And he was far from normal.

The man's face was as it usually was, but his eyes _flamed. _ He was pissed off. Mai backed away involuntarily as he took a step forw9ard, shoving her out the door. She stumbled on the step and turned around to find the door closed—and locked.

"NARU! OLIVER DAVIS! OPEN THE DOOR, _it's cold!"_ Mai fumed. A voice echoed through the mail slot.

"You are no longer permitted to enter this shop. Go stay with the monk, if you must remain here in England."

She pounded on the door and jiggled the handle, until she spotted Naru and Lin walking away from her, having come out the back door. Naru refused to even turn his head.

Stomping up to the both of them, Mai turned her anger on the people themselves. "Where the hell are you going? What is the meaning of this? I just saved your life and _that_ is how you repay me? What the _hell_?!_" _The man simply kept walking, turning toward a silver van very similar to the Japanese one.

"Lin? Hey, answer me here! What are you doing?" _SLAM! _ "Oh come on…" she said to no-one, watching as they drove away and Lin shot an apologetic look back at her.

The girl, standing alone on the street, moseyed back to the door and glanced in the slightly frosted window to see a sign that said "Closed for the Week." Had she really been abandoned?

* * *

Once again, Ayako sat on her bed listening to the troubles and anger of Taniyama Mai. The girl was ultimately angrier than she had seen her in quite a while, the last time also having to do with Naru. Ayako sighed and shook her head, flopping back onto the comforter.

"_Mai_, can't you just bust into their shop like you did last time?" _I love you, kid, but really, I don't think I can stand much more of this._

The girl shifted uncomfortably. "I suppose I could, but I think they'd notice. Naru would, at least, and isn't that illegal?"

The priestess sat up and blinked. "Hm." She felt a satisfied smile lacing over her features as she remembered an excuse she herself had used her fair share of times.

"Ha! Aren't you an employee? What is wrong with the employee going into an office to reclaim her own property that she simply forgot? If you say that and actually bring something back, even Naru can't get you for it."

Satisfied, Ayako watched as the younger woman finally grinned back at her.

"Right," Mai replied, "except I actually am going in there for something illegal."

Ayako just rolled her eyes.

Mai walked slowly into the office from the back door. She wouldn't have been surprised if Naru was there, sitting on his spinning office chair, waiting for her. He did like his spinning chair, after all. Fortunately for Mai, though, the shop was completely empty besides herself.

She picked Naru's lock for the second time, smiling in satisfaction as it opened with a click. Mai wasted no time digging through his files and searching on his computer. Nothing. She sighed in a dissatisfactory way. As Mai sat herself down atop Naru's beloved chair, she spotted a note under a paperweight shaped like a feather. _ A feather, huh? Kinda weird for Naru. _she lightly tugged on the note, reading it with a frown.

"Doctor's note. PK testing…"

Mai's imagination went berserk. _PK? What kind of PK does Naru have again? would this really cause him to kick me out of the office?_ Then it dawned on her.

"Lin wouldn't have taken the van. Naru wouldn't have taken Lin. Nice façade Naru, just great."

The young parapsychologist stood up abruptly and marched over to Lin's room, where she found the lock open as well as his desk. But his laptop was gone.

As Mai dug further into his personal space, she noticed a paper that was indeed printed out—a permission to conduct research paper signed by both lead investigators and clients. She could feel tears welling in her eyes as she read the details on the case (lacking the location), and more importantly, the date. The case was all too similar to one she had experienced a little more than two years ago: the Urado case. Just worse.

And they had left her behind.

Mai stood up angrily. She knew she would go to _any_ length to get to wherever Naru was and show him why exactly she had come to Japan. She began to tear through Naru's personal address book, thinking of someone who might know while forcing the angry tears to disappear from her eyes.

Her hands stilled the flipping paper as she saw a certain few names: Martin and Luella. It rang a bell. Mai pronounced the names a few times and found herself using a Japanese accent: Marutin to Lueda. Suddenly, she gasped. Naru's parents!

Chuckling nefariously, she flipped the book shut, put it in her coat pocket and stepped outside to call a taxi.

(A/N: Hahaha, we all know Mai! Doing such things without much thought.)


	8. Chapter 8

**Yes, for the sake of this fan community, mai ****_does _****go to naru's house, but it is brief, and he isn't there. besides, that's not exactly the point of the chapter. **

**hope you like it!**

* * *

The house was, to put it simply, a mansion.

It had a blue-grey roof, built revolutionary style with shutters on the windows of the same color and a few flower-dotted shrubs in the front. The colors seemed to darken as it rained; a fairly common occurrence in London, Mai had come to understand. A balcony jutted out of the second floor and extended around the perimeter of the house where several chairs sat comfortably out of the rain. A window permitted a few strands of light to escape into the now dark yard, barely visible through the tangle of ivy and trees. Mai felt her heart beat threateningly as she walked up to the subtle but grand double doors. She lifted the small circle to knock.

Seconds later, a young woman in an ivory business-like sweater dress and smiled. "Can I help you?" Her voice was refined, her words enunciated greatly. Mai figured she was the maid.

Mai made to open her mouth, but an older voice echoed through the opening. "Macy, who is it?" an older woman appeared with shoulder length and lightly curled gray hair and deep smile wrinkles around her eyes. Mai immediately liked her. The woman radiated a motherly atmosphere, she thought. She felt her nervousness lighten considerably.

"Um, I'm Mai…Is Naru—David Hakase…no…" she flinched as the woman showed a bit of recognition at 'hakase'. What was his English name again? "I…is Oliver here?"

The woman, likely Luella, opened her mouth only to close it again in shock. Mai couldn't see Naru having brought home friends often. She smiled gratefully as the woman ushered her inside as it started to pour even harder. Mai blushed as the older woman handed her a cup of tea. _I'm usually the one making the tea._

"Tha…thank you, ah?"

"Luella, dear."

The girl nodded, bewildered.

"So, you know my son?" Mai nodded eagerly.

"Mhm. Naru—ah, that's what we called him in Japan instead of Noll."

The woman raised her eyebrows and smiled widely. "Oh, you are from japan? I could hardly notice!"

Mai nodded again, not quite wanting to get to the point. She liked it there. "Yeah. Me and the rest of his friends were really sad when…" _when we found Gene's body._ "When he left. We just came here cause we thought he might be getting himself into trouble."

Luella listened eagerly. "You're his friend?"

"Yeah, of a sort. Though I'm probably the only one who thinks so."

The motherly like woman giggled under her hand. "I _knew_ he had friends. He talked about you in his letters, you know."

Trying to recover the shock from the last statement, she opened her mouth. "Well, Naru went on a case and left me behind. I know the contents of the case, everything but the location, and I was wondering if you or your husband might know."

Dragging Mai by the arm, she rushed upstairs to a library area. It was warm and comfortable. A man with a shot white beard and still slightly blonde hair sat on a large chair reading a book that was very familiar.

"Hey," she laughed, "That's Noll's favorite book!" she used his English name for the sake of the rest of the inhabitants of the house. The man who was reading looked up sharply. "A researcher?" he asked. Mai couldn't help but snicker at the similarity. She nodded.

"I'm Mai Taniyama, a friends of your son's from Japan." She cursed herself as she bowed out of habit.

(A/N: lol I bow to people all the time; I went to a Japanese immersion camp and haven't stopped since. It's really annoying!)

The man gaped for a second, then managed to close his mouth, resulting in Mai snickering. _Haha, surprised he has friends? Me too! _His response was a bit different than she had expected, though.

"Oh, you're the kid who has astral projection skills! Amazing! Noll wrote about you! There's no chance you could tell me about these skills of yours, is there?"

Luella interjected before Mai could reply. "Martin! You can't just go around forcing people to submit to your testing. If she agrees, she has to stay for dinner, or no deal." She turned to Mai. "Jeesh, both workaholics, aren't they?"

Mai laughed as the man raised his eyebrow. "Well…I really _would _like to make a few notes on your skills, if you would allow me…If you don't mind…"

The young researcher gave in to the look on his face. "Alright, but only if you tell me everything about where Naru might have gone." Responding to the questioning look on Dr. Davis's face, she explained, "He left me behind on a case, and I know he will get into trouble if he doesn't have my help. Besides, I doubt stoic-face can make very good tea."

Both people before her bust out laughing at Mai's crack on Lin, knowing perfectly well what she meant.

Luella chuckled into her hand, trying not to sound rude. "Lin really doesn't have much expression does he?" She shook her head in agreement.

* * *

Mai had to politely detach herself from the motherly woman, finally able leave after her dinner and recounting of her skills (she left Eugene out, but he seemed fascinated all the same.) She apologized and was forced to promise to come again, and had a wicked feeling she could use her new relations against her boss in the future.

She just couldn't wait to see the horrified look on his face when she got there.

* * *

**Ahhhhh, where did the names Luella and Martin come from anyway? I can't find evidence in any of the wikis...must just be popular choice, but I read too many fanfics with them to ever want different names. Oh well 3**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey there! sorry for the late update. there is light swearing in this chapter, so if it offends you, don't read **

**thanks for your support!**

* * *

Ayako groaned. The girl behind her was just radiating fury and excitement and anticipation. She was constantly fighting with her hair, hands, shirt, _ARG! _She just couldn't take it anymore!

"_Mai, would you just STOP?!_" Ayako shouted. _Just ten minutes! Ten minutes to go, Ayako. You can handle ten minutes._

Ayako, punishing the still fidgeting girl slightly, hit the brakes rather hard as she pulled up to an extremely old building that could have easily been a church at one point in time. Ayako looked and saw the words "For Elanor and Eli La'fleaux." She felt a shiver run down her back, realizing that it very much was a church, a convent even. _Ghosts at a convent…young women…what is this, Sherloc Holmes? I wouldn't be surprised if there was some creep sacrificing the women on a table in there._The church did look overly menacing. The priestess shivered involuntarily.

_Mai, maybe you really shouldn't be here._

* * *

The older nun took Mai right to the door at Mai merely stating she was a member of the SPR.

The familiar grey eyes glared with a fiery passion as the girl stepped into the base. The words he said sent guilty chills down her spine. "What the _BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!_" His voice abandoned all accents of the area and adopted one that was used more by the lower class in London.

Mai let her head fall closer to her chest. She couldn't look in his eyes. The great speech that she had planned disappeared. He scared her, slightly. Suddenly, her willpower flared like a firecracker and she football shouldered the man out of the way and gained access to the base only by force. A hand wrapped around her neck in a half-nelson and something kicked her legs out from under her. The hand let go as she was in midair, setting her on her rump faster than she could regain her balance. A very angry-looking Oliver Davis stood menacingly over her.

"I _said, _what the fuck are you doing here."

Mai felt her face redden further in guilt and embarrassment, but she held her own, much to the irritation of the other. She stood up, brushing off her clothes. "Pardon me, but as I recall, I am an SPR member stepping onto _our _base, thank you Noll."

(A/N: aha, here you see a bit of an example of the real me in my writing. I can't wait till I get to write a fight scene in this. I also really enjoy adding a bit of swearing, like spice to meat. Sorry. Hehe.)

Her boss turned to a very surprised looking man with short gray hair and a crooked nose. "Get her out of here, and make sure she doesn't try to come back."

Ayako, flaming red hair flying, making an entrance more dramatic than Mai could have ever pulled off, slung her purse over her shoulder and stood belligerently in front of the door. Her face held a furious expression. "_Olivaaa Daivisu! Omae wa nani o shiterun' des' ka_? _Omai wa AHO! Aho desu_!" a male voice sounded behind her, "_Soh, aho, da nee_!"

"Ayako, Bou-san!"

(A/N: oliver davis, _what_ 're you doing? Youre an idiot, an idiot! Yeah, idiot, isn't he. Rough translation. If any of you have seen steins gate, she shouted Naru's name like _CHRISutinA_~! If you haven't, watch it_! Best everrr. besides GH._)

The two newcomers wrestled Naru into a corner and whispered intently, his face getting angrier by the second. The "idiot scientist" brushed past the two of them and toward another room that was likely serving as his office, shouting, "_fine!"_ as he slammed the door. Mai had never seen him so out of his usual expressionless, sarcastic character. She shivered, but grinned as she realized she had won.

"Ha, HA!"

* * *

Naru sat in his office, running a hand through his ebony hair. _Urg. Somehow I knew she wouldn't believe the note. _He cursed himself for being so careless. This case was a very dangerous one, and she was the type of victim down to the last hair. _Even so, who knew she would go to such great lengths just to catch up to us. What _did _she do to find me, anyway?_

* * *

Mai, wanting to suck up to Naru a bit, made him tea. She stepped into his room, set it down, and waited. He blatantly ignored her, as to be expected. _Now, what could I do to get a reaction? _She glanced at the screen next to him, displaying a stairway leading to something.

"Is that a cadaca…cadaco…" Mai struggled with the uncommon word.

"Catacomb," he corrected, not looking at her. "And don't you dare go near it alone," added a voice in the background. Takigawa was propped against the doorway, arms crossed.

"We knew when we brought you here, Mai, that this was dangerous, and maybe not involving ghosts. We even have to work with police on this case. So if you go anywhere, even to the bathroom, you _will_ be accompanied by one of the male researchers, minus John and Yasuhara, if he comes. The same goes for Ayako and Madoka, myself even. But the girls especially."

Naru nodded approvingly. "Mai, you will not travel near those catacombs _at all_, unless Takigawa, Lin and I are with you."

The girl gulped, then nodded, slipping out of the office.

* * *

**Hmm, i think naru might have been a bit OOC there for a bit, but he really was mad.**

**don't be afraid to review! it makes me write faster~**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey yall! sorry for the lack of updates the last few days. you know, classes, etc. AND my computer broke so i had to use a friends's.**

**hope you enjoy!**

An unfamiliar sight awaited her. A young man in camouflaged clothing and slightly long but obviously military cut hair shook his head and wiped his forehead on a glove. He ran his hand through his disheveled hair once and plopped down on a chair. He caught Mai gaping and stood up again, offering a hand respectfully.

"There really is military here!"

"Ah, I'm military police, but yes'm, we are here," he replied.

Mai forcibly held back her giggles. _He sounds funnier than john!_ She thought, barely able to understand his American accent with a hardly noticeable southern drawl.

She let herself laugh and said, "Nice to meet you, I'm Mai Taniyama." He smiled and shook her hand before asking, "Did Davis mention anything I should know about?"

The girl thought for a moment before shrugging. "he told me not to go near the catacombs, but other than that, nope. Would you like some tea?" she asked,

He shook his head and lumbered towards the office. Mai heard them talking, and saw him swear and run out of the room and into the hall wielding a gun. She blinked. _What?_

Mai ran out the door, following him. she leaped down the stairs to see what was wrong, and saw him run to the entrance of the catacombs, shouting.

"Shit, don't go down there! It's dangerous! Kid!" he rushed down the stairs at tops speed, and Mai heard a rather loud _thump _and a "What the hell!"

The American emerged, dragging a girl around Mai's age by the collar. She wore jeans, boots, and a fitted army green jacket. She had her brown hair pulled up into a ponytail, and was stroking the back of her head, likely the source of the thump.

She snarled. "lighten up, Army! I can defend myself perfectly fine. They told me a girl went down there yesterday and didn't come back out, and I had it all planned out, too!"

He ignored her protests and kept dragging her along, until Mai witnessed the girl elbow him in the ribs, causing him to release his hand. He used the flat of his hand to bop the back of her head, like punishing a child. She growled at him "You wanna take this outside?"

_Ah, _Mai thought, _they're both American. _They bickered more. The girl was almost as tall as him. _Woah, the west does have tall people._

Deciding to make the two stop yelling at each other, (an argument that was a bit more malicious than bou and Ayako) Mai stepped onto the stairs and greeted them.

"Hello!"

They froze. The man visibly relaxed, as if he had been expecting a serial killer and the girl turned and greeted her. "Hey! I'm Rae! Nice 'ta meet 'cha!"

"Um? Sorrywhat?" Mai laughed awkwardly.

The girl blinked, then asked, "Are you foreign?"

_Are you blunt? _"I'm Japanese."

"Oh, really?! That's great! I know a bit. Ma, sumimasendeshta. watashi wa rae desu. Yiroshku!"

Mai raised her eyebrow. "Yiroshku?"

"Yep! Now I know ther're ghosts here, I cant very well let everyone else do the work!"

Mai noticed her change in speech. _ Maybe she's not that bad. _The young researcher grinned as she had a thought. _Someone like this is bound to annoy Naru, especially if I ask her to. She reminds me of gene a bit._

"Well, if I ask him, I think our boss would probably allow it. Mai smirked.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "How is it I hear malice in that comment?"

_She got me?_

"Hey, _intel. _Get over here." Both girls turned their heads to the police sticking his head out the base's door. Rae practically radiated anger, worse than Ayako. "You got something against me?"

thankfully, Mai was saved from the bickering as a black figure appeared outside the door.

"Mai. Tea." The girl rolled her eyes and complied, listening as he continued speaking to the others. "Mr. Ford."

"Nnh?"

"Guard the entrance. Are any of your squad here, or are you the only one?"

"Understood. I'm the only one. The rest of my squad are somewhere trying to kill some damn serial killer bastard."

Mai handed Naru the tea, which was some type of weird purple leaf. He took it and continued questioning the man. "Why just you?"

"Recovering from injury. Apparently I've 'not fully regained my capabilities.'"

Naru nodded, his eyes showing no emotion, but glared at the American girl instead.

"Rae Schmidt."

He continued to glare. She glared back, smirking. Mai found herself grinning. _This will indeed be interesting._

* * *

__**I added some new characters, and i just love them. They add a bit of random. I wonder if they will be gone after this case?**

**Don't be afraid to give me critique! if you think something should be revised, see chinks in my writing style, ooc characters or just want to say hi, i'm all for it!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey, i'm back! my computer broke, so i couldn't update nearly as fast. I stil don't have it back yet, so i'm borrowing a friend's. **

**for those wondering, fluff is in the near future, so don't be sad~**

**thank you for your support!**

* * *

Naru glared at Mai pointedly as he flipped on the news.

"A new threat to the public appears is a dangerous rapist in the west norwood area. Not only has this man supposedly raped and killed seven women in the last year, the police still do not know his identity. Now as of yesterday, the police have been tracking this man and do have several teams posted in the area. We can only warn London to be on guard. Young women, his prime targets, should be very careful, especially at night. Everel, what would you say citizens should do to keep safe?" _click._

Naru stood in front of the TV, glaring at his assistant.

Mai shrank back slightly.

"A new catacomb is discovered, and the majority of persons involved were killed. At the same time, a murderer is loose in the area. Where do you _think_ would be the best place for a murderer co commit his crimes and hide the evidence?"

Mai failed to reply.

"His victims have been pretty, young women within the ages of 17-20. He obviously prefers brunets." His tone turned icier with every word. "You fall right into that category. Not to mention you are foreign, a favorite to killers around the area, and just turned 18, yet another favorite."

Mai stuttered. Naru must be really angry to be talking so much. Mai's mind focused on his anger and completely missed that he had hinted she was pretty. "Wh…What about Rae?"

"Rae is a martial artist as well as a proficient marksman. Last time I checked, even your nine cuts were lacking. I will overlook the fact that you used PK in the last case and assume it was a fluke."

_Damn Naru!_

"Fine then. If I just stay by you, everything should be ok, right?" _aaaand everything will be ok as long as I don't use gene's pk. Or rather, as long as he doesn't use my body…_

The man before her glared suspiciously. _Oh no, please tell me I didn't say that out loud. _

"You will not leave the side of either me, Lin, or Rae." _Why Rae? Probly if I need to go the bathroom. _Mai felt a twinge of jealousy…until the person in question walked into the room yelling at something behind her, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.

_Well,_ Mai though happily, _looks like I don't have anything to worry about. _

* * *

The catacombs were downright creepy. They were stone, with holes carved in the walls for bodies to rest. Most of the bodies themselves were mummified, giving the underground a terrifying atmosphere. Mai shivered. She jumped a little more than necessary as her foot hit a stray skull. The catacomb was undoubtedly different from ordinary London ones. It had a resemblance to the catacombs of rome. Beautifully sculpted, with just…arches in the rock to place a body. The catacomb was altogether very different, though. The church had covered up the finding, and no media or electronic light had been introduced. The only light that was in the catacomb itself was that of fire. Small candles rested on stands that had likely been there from the start, but they were not very proficient and fairly limited, so the party had to carry a lantern.

Lin was in possession of the lantern at that particular time. Mai saw a glint out of the corner of her eye, and lunged for it. "Naru! Naru, look, it's a coin!" she let the magnificently preserved gold shine in the light for a second more, and smiled fondly at it.

A kindly old nun who was accompanying them chuckled. "I think, miss, that the dead don't have any more use for it. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you took it home with you."

Mai gasped and thanked her—then turned to thank the coffin that it had been found on. She heard a snort from behind her, and looked away, embarrassed. _How long have I been an investigator? Did I just thank a dead body? Uhg, only in my field could that be considered normal. _

Mai clicked the end of the pen and scratched a number on the temperature chart. _Cold, but rather normal, as this is underground, _She thought. Mai walked hesitantly to the next room with the rest of the group, expecting a zombie to pop out at any second. She checked the temperature only to find out that it was the same as the last room. She frowned slightly.

"Ne, Lin? Isn't it kinda weird that the temperature farther in is the same as the entrance?"

The man shot her a thoughtful look and replied, "report that to Noll."

Mai stared at the wall as she saw skulls and bones decorating a tomb. "Pretty…in a rather morbid way. I wonder who he was."

The others nodded in thought.

Walking softly was a challenge with all of the stray bones and rocks and beads on the floor. Even Lin tripped….a bit. Mai soon found herself at the front of the party, trading spaces with Lin. She heard his pen scratch on the clipboard behind her. _Much more interesting being in the front, _she thought.

* * *

Mai came to a stop as she reached an end. It was dark, with just the light of the lantern, and several gold coins lay scattered on the ground. A full skeleton lay scattered on the cold grey of the bricks. Mai froze as the temperature fell. "Lin!"

"Mai, get out. I got the temperature." Mai attempted to do so, but mentally groaned as she felt her consciousness fading. She was pretty sure she landed on the skeleton.

* * *

Hee hee~ i love my catacombs. i had some trouble writing this and had to think long and hard about where i could experience the feel of catacombs, and eventually decided Skyrim. LOLOLOL. it really is realistic, if you look at pictures of catacombs in rome.

Urg, as a real paranormal investigator, i wish I had the equipment that group did. Not to mention America hasn't nearly the rich parapsychological history as england. *dreams*

I also wish exorcisms worked in that way.


	12. Chapter 12

**Alriiiiight! i loved writing this one, by the way. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

It was dark. She wasn't supposed to be here. It felt…wrong. Wrong. Mai jumped as she saw a light. Creeping toward it, she peeked out from behind the wall, staring at the horrible sight that awaited her. She was in a house, a simple one, with just a small kitchen and a single window reflecting the morning sun. Three girls about her age sat in the corner, cold and shivering. She flinched back. _Who are they? Why are they hurt? Who are they?_ Mai ran back down the hall, horrified. She opened the door to her bedroom and slammed the door.

And sat up.

Two abnormally beautiful grey eyes stared down at her.

"n…Naru…" Oh no.

The eyes leaned themselves back a bit.

"if you insist on staying here, I don't intend to let you just sit and be useless."

Meaning she should tell him about her dream. _I'm getting good at this. Whether that is a good thing or not. _

Mai sat up slowly and clutched her head, flinching. _Too fast, _she thought. The room swam around as she made to topple over. Trying to regain her full consciousness, she put her thumbs to her temples as she tried to sit up again, but failed and landed face-first into her blankets, her hands still rubbing her sore head. At least she was comfortable.

"You hit your head on a skull, according to Lin." Mai bust out laughing at the irony, and felt the surface beneath her chuckle as well.

_What?_ She turned her head to find her head resting on black cloth. _Uhhhg. No way. _Her face felt like a torch. Naru was propped up against a headboard, slouched in a sitting position on the edge of the bed, one leg hanging off. And Mai was comfortably snuggled into his chest. He smirked at her face, which was hardly six inches beneath his and wearing an expression that could only be described as "deer in the headlights."

She rolled off of her boss faster than she could've thought possible, and hid beneath her covers. _Aah, aaaaah! Lin, save meee!_ She thought, though she couldn't deny his chest _was _pretty comfortable. She wouldn't have minded if she stayed… _No, no, it isn't! What am I thinking?!_ "_Ie, ie, ie, dame desu!" No, no, no way!_

"Soh desu."

_Ah, ah I said that out loud! And in Japanese nonetheless! Oh my god, kill me now!_

Mai groaned in pain as she could practically hear his smirk widen.

"Shut uppp!"

"Nan datte?" what was that? Mai felt her face heat up even further as he continued to speak Japanese _and_ make that phrase sound minimally respectful.

"Urusai to itta!" _Ack! I just told Naru to shut up twice! Am I a masochist or something?_

The man leaned forward, practically gleaming with sadistic joy (or so Mai thought.) She froze, completely incapable of movement as the man leaned forward, his lips nearly touching her ear.

"Are you going to remain useless or tell me your dream?" He asked bitterly, and completely in English.

"_Damn you_!"

Needless to say, she obliged.

The group listened eagerly as Mai recounted her dream. "I was a girl, probably fairly rich as I was in a nice house, and there were three girls. They looked like they were probably around middle to low class, and they were in really bad shape, and tied together like prisoners. I saw them and turned tail and ran. At the end, I heard someone slam the door and they were whimpering. They were all really pretty, and I'd say pretty close around my age. My current age, I mean."

Mai glanced to see her new friend's expression. Rae gaped at her, mouth open, and asked to no-one in particular, "She has astral projection skills?"

Mai scratched the back of her head embarrassedly.

"She has taken the place of a medium on recent excursions." _Naru just said that?_

"Oh, so he admits I'm useful!"

"You only seem to be useful when you are asleep and not causing inconvenience for the rest of us." his eyebrow raised dryly in a '_don't get cocky'_ sort of way.

_Bastard, _Mai thought.

"AAAAAny way," takigawa interrupted, "Mai, you come with me and Jace; we are gonna set up audio recorders. Whoever else wants to come can."

There was a knock at the door. Mai reached to poen it and grinned as a fairly good looking blonde head popped in. "hey ya'll!"

"John!" Mai hugged him, and bou-san grabbed the chance to squeeze the air out of both of them.

"Don't kill them, stupid monk." The classic purse swung and landed perfectly on the back of takigawa's head.

"Owwwww! Why do you have to be so mean, obaa-chan?"

Mai grinned to herself as the two proceeded to fight. It was like she was back in japan. She began to laugh as she caught a glimpse of the looks on the newcomers' faces.

"they do this all the time," she explained.

Naru stood. "Mai, get Lin and John. I will be accompanying you in takigawa's place." He walked to the policeman, Jace, and Mai turned and made toward the office.

"Ne, Lin-san?"

"yes, Taniyama san?

Mai told the older man of her boss's plans and he nodded, getting up.

She heard Naru's voice come from the door. "Mai, hurry."

The underground was the same as it was before, only she didn't pass out. Rae went on ahead to check for dangers with Lin (and make sure there wasn't anything for Mai to fall on) while the rest stayed behind.

Mai stuffed a microphone into a place where a skull should have been. It was dry, but must at the same time, like a store full of old books. The young researcher couldn't say she liked it.

Rae grinned. She loved places like this. Dark, dry, smelled old, since she was a kid. She also loved archaeology, and this was like a dream for her. She studied parapsychology as well, and was the lead investigator in her own group in America. But she had never seen anything like this. The man next to her was quiet, so she could concentrate. She enjoyed that, too.

A gold coin fell off of a shelf as she lifted up a bone. _Whoops. _ She reached to put it back, but slowly backed away as something caught her eye.

"Lin."

His quiet footsteps paused as he looked back at her.

"come here." He walked next to her, perhaps seeing her expression, and glanced to the place she was looking at. The man gasped.

There was a definite door, hinges and all, at the back of the arc meant of a body. Six gold coins were in made to the door, and hinges lay untouched. The dust that had once covered the door was marred. Someone had been there, and not long before them.

"Shit. I knew this was gonna be more complicated than it looked," she swore, and felt her adrenaline begin to soar.

She opened her mouth to say more, but Lin's hand was already reaching toward the door, lightly tapping it and frowning as it wavered. It was almost as if the hinges had been greased. Stuffing her excitement down her throat, she glanced at Lin, slightly amused that she was able to hold entire conversations with him using her eyes. He nodded, and she climbed onto his knee and into the coffin, pushing the door open so that no sound was made. She hopped out the other side as he climbed into the opening in the wall after her.

There were candles there as well. Lit, and not long ago. A small hallway lead to a slightly larger hall where a large, rectangle table lay in between two coffins, about the length of a tall man. Using her trained senses, she listened carefully as she made no noise and inspected the contents of the table, only to find something strange. There was wheat, and eggshells, and strange, dried flowers she had rarely seen.

A menacing looking tool lay on the table, which she recognized with dread as an _embalming tool. _

A quiet whistle rand through the air, though only those in close proximity could really hear it. Rae felt something whiz by her. _I forgot, he's an onmyouji… I hope I don't have to use _that _if we see anything…_

The two came up farther and noticed a door. It was large, wooden, and menacing, with strange symbols etched into the top. The two exchanged glances and he pushed it open, fully expecting to have to kill something.

But there was nothing there. It was a square room, with a metal nail driven into the center, and a few tables similar to the ones they saw earlier in the corners, skeletons placed nicely atop them. A wooden chest was tucked between the table and the wall. A crystal sat on candleholder, glinting with a purple light, and several vials of unknown liquid lay on a shelf, untouched.

In a flash, a figure dashed out from a corridor. Lin swiftly brought his fingers to his lips, but the girl stopped him. _"It's a nun, she's hurt!" _she whispered.

Rae began walking slowly toward the young nun, talking comfortingly, but as soon as she was seen, the girl backed away in terror and lunged for the spike, attempting to break the bonds on her hand with it.

The second her skin touched the metal, her body convulsed. An inhuman whistle permeated the air, and Rae attempted to save the nun, pulling her away from the spike. She failed. Her hands left the metal, and the nun's body twitched before falling to the floor, quite dead.

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**DISCLAIMER TO SKYRIM! the setting only partly came out of my head. Maybe because i really wanted to write more with the skyrim atmosphere. **

feel free to comment on anything!


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, y'all! case coming to a close. a bit sad, but, hey, i get to write another one soon. In fact, I've already started! **

**enjoy!**

* * *

Mai handed Naru a microphone, letting him place it in a corner she couldn't reach. _I wonder where Rae-_

A whistle tore through the air. She gasped. That was Lin! Naru began running, the police following close behind. John gasped and caught her as she tripped on the microphone, nearly breaking it.

"No, don't touch that!" Mai heard from ahead.

* * *

Mai stared at the scene before her. Rae was hovering over the body of a young nun, whispering a psalm. John joined her, holding his bible. Lin was inspecting something metal on the ground while reporting to Naru, and John took over for Rae, who ran to Lin. Jace drew his gun and made his way up another passage.

Naru nodded and reached for the spike. Abruptly, Rae, lunged at him, pinning him to the ground.

"No, don't touch that!" the girl leaped up and ran to the spike, shooing everyone away from it, including Lin and the police officer.

Mai walked up to her. "What happened?!"

The American looked at Mai, her eyes filled with a dangerous fire. "We found a secret passageway, came here. A nun bust out that door over there and tried to rip the ropes off her wrists with that spike. The second she touched it, she died." Rae looked over at Naru, who was picking himself off the ground. "are you listening to this?"

He nodded wordlessly and let her continue. "It wasn't a malevolent entity, but rather a reoccurrence. I've seen the same thing in investigations before, though on a smaller scale. A man grabs a glass cup, the cup crumbles, but only at three in the morning kind of thing." Mai stared at her, mouth open. How was she taking that so calmly?

"That spike…probably killed a lot of people. I suggest it be physically removed and exorcised in a church."

Naru nodded, much to Mai's shock. "Agreed. We'll get it out tomorrow. In the meantime, find out who that girl was and why exactly she was there." The unspoken thought was "or who put her there." On closer inspection, the girl had brown hair, brown eyes, and was somewhere close to seventeen.

Rae nodded, and made toward the now open crawlspace.

"What the hell kind of idiot are you!?" The police officer's voice boomed from behind them.

He strode up to Rae with angry eyes and grabbed her arm, yelling like a drill sergeant. "Someone was just killed, probably kidnapped, and you want to go off alone?! Over my fucking corpse!" he pointed to a corner, where the shadows barely concealed a dozen figures that looked too much like bodies. Mai fell to her knees as she directed her eyes to the right. Several dresses piled uncleanly on the ground resembled three dresses she had seen in her dream.

"N…Naru…" she whimpered, pointing. He seemed to catch on and ushered her out. He looked over his shoulder. "None of you will leave alone."

They nodded speechlessly in affirmation.

* * *

The base was comfortable. It was warm, smelled like tea and was filled with computer screens and books. She didn't want to fall asleep. Mai knew she would see something gruesome or disturbing. She snuggled into her blanket, taking a sip of the tea she made for herself. The couch was rather uncomfortable. She found herself wishing for Naru's ches—_NO! No, no, no! _She blushed.

Naru smiled at her. Mai smiled back, but caught herself. "Gene?!"

He smiled again. Mai laughed mirthlessly to the side. _Great, he's mad at me too?_

"Mai, you really shouldn't have come here. My brother cares about you, that's why he left you behind, though I know he did it like an idiot."

Mai snorted. He hit that nail right on the head.

"I know you want to help with the case. But Mai, promise me you won't go down there again."

"I'll try not to, Gene, but I might have to…"

He gave her a regretful look, but sighed, expelling his worries as best he could. "I know. Be careful Mai. Rae's right, you can't touch the spike. But exorcising it will only be a part of the overall problem. You can't let Naru turn it over to the police."

Mai nodded.

She watched as the world materialized around her, forming what looked to be a church, looked to be the very church she sat in now. She was stationary, unable to move an inch from the spot. But she could see a pastor closing his eyes in prayer and the rest of the people mumbling with him something in French…or Latin? John would probably know. A girl around her age, looking surprisingly like the others she had seen whispered to her father and ran down the hall. Mai saw her pause as someone said something, and she turned to look, following after him. _Don't go; you can't! Don't go with him! _The church faded away, leaving Mai in the empty space, colored roughly like peach blossoms. Mai could tell Eugene had disappeared, released her from her dream, but why was she still there?

Mai was outside a town, shaking in the cold rain. She wasn't wearing much. The felt her wrists being bound to something hard. Her feet, too. She was laying down, she thought, and coughed as rain landed unwelcome in her mouth. She didn't feel good. She couldn't feel much, though. There was a sudden pressure on her hand, and she tried to scream as something was pounded through her hand in the wood. They pounded her other hand. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.

It hurt.

There was weight on her hands. They were holding her up somehow. John would know. She felt her body being tilted, then jolted. Her feet couldn't touch the ground. Her shoulders hurt. Her hands burned, but were going numb slowly. _I don't want to die. My wife is pregnant… _it wasn't her thought. She couldn't tell anymore. Her eyes stared down at the dull grey rain and wet slosh of the earth. Someone walked up to her. It was a man. He looked tired.

She flinched. He was holding a torch. Her feet felt hot. Mai could smell her body as it fried. She screamed. Something was pounded into her chest.

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DUNDUNDUN DUNNNNNNNNN cliffhanger~


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey, Y'all! hmm. Mai seems especially witty in this chapter. **

**thanks for the support everyone :333**

* * *

"Mai, okite! Mai, daijobu ka?" wake up, Mai. _Yeah. _Are you all right? _…What happened?_

Her voice cracked. "Naru? Anata desu ka?" _why am I speaking in japanese? I can't think of the English words right now. Where am I?_

Mai whimpered as her eyes opened. It was dark, but they burned. Something was wrapped around her shoulders, though she couldn't tell who put it there. As Mai began to regain consciousness, reality slowly came back. She was in the base, and the others were asleep. Her heart pounded as she started to cry softly, clutching at the figure holding her. She knew it was Naru, but she was grateful to anyone being there at the moment. She was always grateful. He pat her head, and she fell asleep again, only to wake up a few seconds later.

"Naru?"

"Mai."

"Daijobu." (I'm all right.) She couldn't stop herself from wrapping her hands back around him. His hair smelled like shampoo. _I love you._

_No. can't think about that right now, we're on a case. (blush)_

Mai pulled back reluctantly and Naru let go of her gently. She should probably tell him about her dream.

As she wrapped the blanket around her, she began to recount the dream. The man before her sat back and listened quietly.

"I was crucified, I think, in a devilish way. My palms were nailed to a cross, probably. I don't know why, but I wasn't fully conscious. I was male, more than likely above 20, and I remember thinking that I didn't want to die because my wife was pregnant. They stood the cross up and it lit on fire, then I had another nail pounded through my heart." Mai shivered at the thought, and tried to shrink back farther into the blanket. She didn't want to remember.

_Happy place, happy place, s_he thought.

"Mai."

She looked up to see Naru looking down on her, a kind look on his face.

"gene?"

The figure in front of her froze, gaping. Mai shook herself from her trance and prayed for him to believe her. "Er, you looked like Gene for a second is all…you know, when he was my spirit guide."

The figure relaxed a bit and placed a hand on top of her head. "you don't have to tell me your dream, Mai."

He walked to his computer.

_HAPPY PLACE, HAPPY PLACE, GO TO THE HAPPY PLACE! _Oh, why was she so embarrassing?

The atmosphere faded back to normal a bit.

"Mm, m, mmm, mm, mmm mmm mmm…," Mai hummed. _I guess the happy place did work, however ironic that is. _Deciding she didn't care if Naru was irritated, she continued to hum "_stand by me_" while watching the monitors.

To her surprise, she wasn't yelled at for it.

"Hey, Naru, why are there two less cameras?"

The black haired man glared at her then answered, if rather reluctantly, "They disappeared."

Mai frowned. "What? How can cameras just disappear?"

He ignored her pointedly. Mai glanced at the temperatures the others had left on the way down. They had lowered slightly, as it was night, afterall. "Naru, are you sure Lin didn't just take them down or something when you were asleep on the job?" _what, what, that sounds like something he would say to me!_

The comment made "Big Boss" turn his head and glare. "Says the person that was sleeping contentedly on my chest until just a few moments ago."

"wha…wha…while I was having that dream you can seriously suggest that I was sleeping contentedly?!" Mai felt her ears start burning and covered them.

"What are you doing, Mai, trying to block out the truth?"

"It's not the truth!"

Her boss turned to one of the cameras and hit rewind. Mai saw herself start twitching in her sleep, then whimpering, then practically sobbing and Naru ran, _ran,_ Mai noted with satisfaction, to her and tried to wake her up in English, then in japanese. A fight scene ensued and Mai somehow ended up in Naru's arms as he patted her head, trying to calm her down. Mai saw herself wake up, then fall back to sleep for what was _MUCH _more than a few seconds. She paled, then blushed even harder.

"You pedophile! How could you trap me like that, eh? I wasn't sleeping on your chest because I wanted to, it was because you held me there!"

Naru raised his eyebrow. "Do you want me to rewind it again?"

"No, thank you very much!"

"Mai, how old are you?"

"Eighteen!"

"Then how is it I am a pedophile?"

"A pedophile of the miiinnndddd!"

"Are you suggesting I could have found the blob of snot on my lap attractive in any way?"

Mai scrunched her nose at his win. She wished Bou-san would come in, or Madoka. Especially Madoka. Maybe even Yasuhara. "I really want to hit you."

The man spun around in his beloved spinning chair. "Please refrain from doing so until after you bring me tea."

"AAAAAAARG!"

* * *

_Feel free to comment! it really does give me inspiration~_


	15. Chapter 15

**hope ya like it!**

**disclaimer: japanese soda is funny-tasting.**

**yes, I make skyrim references because i want to add something the two americans can communicate about. **

* * *

Jace walked in the catacombs, hand on his gun. Every step he took, he was even more irritated at the bastards in his squad for leaving him behind. But if he was correct, then where he was currently standing was the heart of the problem, not where they were. But that just made everything worse. He admitted he _was _still injured, but he would still be able to do more if his squad was here to help him. he heard the soft steps of the girl behind him. the other man was probably somewhere nearby, he nearly disappeared into the night. _What is he, a Chinese phantom?_

He felt a poke in his side and nearly came out of his skin.

The girl, Rae, her name was, was pointing toward something. Jace frowned and walked over to it, but he didn't see anything. "What?" he mouthed.

She answered carefully. "there used to be a camera there. I don't get it, but let's split up and see what we can find that way. Lin?"

The tall Chinese man came out of the air, causing Jace to start again. _What is it with these people…_

_"_Hey, can either o' you see ghosts?"

Both of them nodded. _Shit. I feel useless._

_"_But, to be honest," Rae began, " I don't think what we are dealing with here is paranormal. Survival phenomena, maybe, but nothing more than that."

He nodded slowly.

"Rae, how competent are you?"

"Very,"

"Can I count on you to survive even if you are captured?"

"I won't be, I got around ten knives on me."

"Lin?"

"I'll go to the right." The man volunteered before disappearing like a vampire.

Jace hesitated. He thought about what Rae had said, that there was a camera and it had gone missing.

"Rae, target the voice recorders."

"Got it."

He couldn't help but feel uncomfortable as the girl had wandered on her way, holding a knife in her sleeve. He felt a tingle on his spine, and spun around and punched. Jace was fairly sure nothing would be there, but he was relieved when his punch hit only air. Next up to guard was the spike. They had been making rounds for about two hours, time to switch things up. Jace yawned and headed the opposite way.

_Shuffle._

_Shuffle, shuffle._

The man froze. A hollow clunk hit the floor and he realized it was a bone. _Shit. _His gun was fast out in front of him, and he did his best to make no noise as combat boots scraped the floor. He was at a corner, holding the black forty-five pistol, and he peeked. There was something there, but then there wasn't. A few lights on the back of the camera flickered, then disappeared. _What?_ He couldn't see much until he flipped the switch on his night goggles. He captured a glimpse of something messing with the camera, and moved a bit closer for a better look. What was in front of him was undoubtedly…A mummy. A zombie mummy.

It had leathery, yellow skin like parchment and very little hair, lying in strings across the top of it's head. He couldn't see it's eyes, but Jace felt like if he could, he would be dead. a large knife, undoubtedly a sword taken from a tomb, was strapped to it's back.

_Ok, what the fuck._

Jace was at an impasse. He really couldn't decide whether to shoot it or laugh, and was decisively leaning toward the latter. _AHAHAHAH, IS THIS SKYRIM? _The man snorted out of pure disbelief, causing the creature to dash off. Out of reflex, he lunged toward it, following, though he was nowhere near fast enough. It disappeared into the dark.

With a sigh, he turned around, deciding to report the situation to his squad before making any rash decisions…

And bellowed.

"Guaaaaaa!" Rae was standing behind him, flashlight under her chin and making a more than abnormal expression, strands of hair wet and streaked across her face.

Her face turned into a mischievous grin.

"The 'hell you do that for?"

"Want to tell me what that 'Drauger' you failed to pursue was?"

he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise yet again. He wouldn't have been surprised if the only psychokenesis in the underground came from…

"Oh, I forgot, _intel _would want to know, wouldn't she?" _ I should stop fighting a losing battle._

Thankfully, she let it go and repeated the question.

He regretfully answered, resisting the urge to give a flip answer. "No idea. It does look like that game, dunnit? You think it was a zombie?"

The girl hesitated, then shook her head, much to his surprise. "His eyes were in tact and the face was extremely wrinkled. Though he was a bit bony, he had a different smell to him, too."

_What are you, a bloodhound?_

"So he was human, you think?"

The girl nodded. "I know."

Jace felt something in his mind click. "What are you hiding?"

She froze. "alright. I don't want to argue now. I…can see something in his eyes. He's possessed. Ghost's can't animate something that doesn't have the capability of standing on it's own. If it tried to animate a corpse, it would be futile as the body has decayed too far for basic motions. It would fall apart. Of course, there is the possibility of PK, but I didn't sense any of that and evidence suggests otherwise. He has to physically deactivate the cameras."

Jace forced his mouth closed and replied, "Well, the nickname intelligence really does fit you."

"Shut it, Army."

"I'm MP."

"Whatever."

"Better report this, come on. Lets get Lin."

The Chinese man, unnoticed until then stepped forward, like a wallflower peeling off of a wall and walking. Jace rolled his eyes.

Mai watched as Naru's usual glare blended into a frown. Rae's face held a grim expression as she set a camera on his lap.

"Looks like we found the culprit." Mai gasped. The other girl nodded.

"I can't blame Ford for not catching him, it was a bit shocking, and he _is _injured." It took Mai a few seconds to catch that 'Ford' was Jace, the police.

Naru glanced up from examining the camera. "Everyone but Lin, leave."

_What? _Suddenly, Mai stood up. "Naru, are you really going to use psychometry on it? They _witnessed_ it." Lin shot a glare at Naru, warning him that he would take Mai's side.

Inevitably, the black haired man's glare disarmed them both.

It seemed as both parties had to make a compromise. Mai sat next to Naru as he touched the camera slowly. He drew his hand back less than five seconds later, mumbling. "I see."

Mai blinked, waiting.

"It seems miss Schmidt was correct."

The room froze, completely unable to make much out of the situation.

"Mr. Ford, it seems as though the rest is up to you and your squad—"

"NO!" Mai yelped.

All eyes turned to her.

"U…um," she fidgeted. _I can't very well say Eugene told me not to let him turn it over to the police. _"I…Just a feeling, but we can't turn it over to the police! Also, exorcising the spike won't do much either."

Naru regarded her darkly. "What is the basis of your hypothesis?"

She gulped, sinking further into the couch. "Er, um… My intuition?" Mai caught a glimpse of Ayako giggling into her hand in her peripheral vision.

Naru shot Mai a flat look. "It's unfortunate that Mai's whining is enough to make me consider her _intuition._ So let me ask you, Mai, what the basis of your _intuition_ is."

She gaped at him. _There's no way he could know. No way. _Thankfully Rae blocked the blow successfully. "My intuition that this person was human was correct, was it not?"

"Coincidence."

"Hehe, nope, evidence. I'm sure Mai feels the same, but doesn't feel the need to share it with you."

The raven glare turned back to Mai. _Oh great, the stare of death. Thanks a lot, Rae._

"Er, Naru-chan, maybe Rae's right? But anyway, I agree. I don't think this case should be turned over to the police as we aren't positive this guy is the serial killer." _Good one, Bou-san! _Mai grinned.

"By continuing to investigate when we are positive of the existence of physical danger, we violate the contract as well as put our team in danger." Mai felt her heart sink. He was right. The permission to investigate contract that was signed specified: Investigators are not to be involved with anything that involves non-psychical physical dangers. If such problems arise, they are required to involve the law establishing authorities.

(A/N: This is actually a line from our investigation contract. It is extremely important that when such things like the kidnapped girl arise and we find the source of the kidnapping, we have to involve the police. Yes, I am a lead investigator. So, don't try this at home ;)

"But, it _does_ still involve us." Naru reluctantly turned his head toward the MP.

"Involve _you,_ yes."

"Rae said he was possessed—OUCH!" he rubbed his ribs where the girl had punched him.

Naru's eyes glazed over as he glared at the American girl. Mai realized with a start that he _knew._

"Naru, we are the only ones that can help! Do you intend to leave the girls here to die?"

"Are you not a girl yourself, Mai?" With an air of finality about him, Naru stood. "I do not intend to put my subordinates in danger. I will accept no further arguments."

Mai felt her fist clench. She shook slightly in anger. She wouldn't let him leave these people. They had been kind to him _and _to her. "I refuse to leave without completing this case, even if it puts me in danger in the process. I will act as bait if necessary." Mai stood and stormed out the door, slamming it as she rushed into the hall.

* * *

**Cha ra ra ra cha ra ra ra charararara ra ra ding~**

**Ghostie has joined your party.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the wait, been really busy lately. **

* * *

Mai sat in Ayako and her room, angry to say the least. She seethed.

"I refuse! He'll have to physically drag me out of here if he wants to leave! Who does Naru think he is, letting all those girls to the mercy of that guy…" Mai sighed softly. She hated this. Every time he attempted to do something that could potentially hurt innocent people, he always surprised her. But Mai had her doubts, and this time was different. In the others, he always planned on completing the case. Why did he want to leave now? Suddenly, she thought of an argument.

* * *

The stupid Japanese girl burst into his room again. Naru thought he had made himself quite clear that he would not listen to any arguments. He mentally shook his head. He knew he would have no choice but to at least listen.

"Naru." Naru this, Naru that. He supposed it was better than Noll.

Mai stood before him, hands on her hips and looking confident. _What has she thought of now?_

"Even if we leave, it won't change anything, you know. There are some poltergeists and apparitions that follow a family or a person from home to home, you know. If we leave, there's no saying that he won't come after me. Home is only six miles away, after all."

He glared. _I hate it when she's right. _

"Not only that, he probably hasn't come after me yet because he sees me as already in his domain, ready to pick when the time is right. If I leave, he'll want to reclaim me."

Naru recovered, forcing his mouth to move. "What makes you think that I'm worried about you?"

Mai smirked, her pink lips drawing into a satisfied smile. "My _intuition._"

He hated it when she was right.

* * *

She didn't know how well her argument in negation had gone, but she thought she had done well. He ordered her out anyway, and she obliged.

"Hmm. What if I actually convinced Naru for once?"

The hall was empty. The perfect and most common time of attack in previous cases.

"Mmmm, hmmm, hmm, hmmm….Ah!" Mai felt her foot come out from under her and her hair whip up past her face. She landed hard on the cold floor, groaning as she comforted her throbbing tailbone. One hand brushed a strand of hair from her eye, and she caught a glimpse of what was undoubtedly blood staining her hand—and no small amount of it. It was so unexpected she screamed.

"Mai?!"

Several voices rang through the hall and hard footsteps rand toward her. Someone picked her up from under her arms, probably Bou-san. Mai heard someone say softly, "She can't help you. Leave her, she cannot help you resolve your sorrows." _Masako? No…Rae, probably. I wish Masako and Yasu were here._ Mai cracked open an eye. Her boss stood in front of her, holding her face in one hand and examining her cheek, which, she assumed was covered in blood.

"I'm ok, it's not my blood, Naru."

Ayako leaned over the pool and ran a finger through it. "She's right. It's been there a while. Probably about twenty minutes."

Mai was used to such sights. A normal girl her age would likely have thrown up on the spot, but not a single figure in the area made a twitch. _What a sad group of people. _

"Ayako, Lin, investigate it. Mai, John, Takigawa, ask the residents the usual questions. Ford, go through the necessary precautions and get permission to investigate further. Schmidt, call the three numbers written here. I assume you can handle it from there." Several remarks echoed through the hall, all of them affirmative.

Mai gasped, her mouth hanging open. "Naru! Does this mean we're staying?!"

All the response she got was a glare and "Get to work." Mai grinned. _Me 1, Naru …sigh._

* * *

The church had done a head count and found no-one missing, injured or acting abnormally. The three finished and had taken temperatures upstairs, setting up the remaining cameras. They had abandoned use of equipment downstairs, settling for just manpower.

Mai made tea happily. _Three days, three days! _

To her delight, the numbers Naru had instructed Rae to call were Masako, Yasuhara and a police chief. "I'm so glad Masako's famous…she could get tickets really fast!"

"Isn't it great, the whole team will be here soon!" John held out his hands, offering to carry teacups. Mai gratefully handed them over.

"It is, with two new member, too."

The blonde man snorted. "Those two fit too well. Too bad they'll probably be gone after this case, isn't it?"

Mai nodded sadly, though she knew she could call them up any time as Rae went to a college very close to the SPR.

The only thing that nagged at Mai's brain was Gene, and his worry for her. Even on the Urado and the School Curse case he was calm, but he seemed restless. Mai made a mental resolution not to leave the side of one of the other members. She followed close to John as they walked back to the base.

* * *

Mai squinted. It was dark and she could hardly see, but she thought there were a few holes of light around her like stars. Accompanying a dreadful feeling in the pit of her stomach, she realized she was trapped. And it was a lot worse than she could have imagined.

The second thing that hit her was the smell. Nothing could compare to it. It was worse than the smell of rotting, closer to the smell of mold, decay and feces added to an emphasized smell of rot and corruption, and Mai didn't need to guess what it was. She would have thrown up had there been anything in her stomach. There was no sound besides her waxing breathing, but all the same, it felt as if the ceiling was pressing down on her. The "stars" in the walls were menacing, hostile. The worse part was she could feel no paranormal energy, therefore had no chance of any defense strategies.

Her third realization was her hands. She couldn't move them. Something rough bound them together, tight with a vengeance. _Don't move. Don't move. _Her mind strayed to the horror detective movies where girls constantly woke up in a similar manner, but screamed, drawing the killer to realize they were awake and ready for their throats to be torn out. She wouldn't move. Her wrists throbbed, slippery with…Blood. It stank like blood. This time, she was more than positive some of it was her own.

Something dripped, making an echoing sound in the underground. Her forth discernment was the horror that what she was experiencing was not a dream. She could move her own body. She could expel her breath at will. It couldn't have been a dream. But it felt more like it than the dreams had.

Drip.

It wasn't long. She could hear sounds: a kind of shuffling. And an ear piercing scream that chilled her to the bone. In horror, the sounds passed by her outside the wall. She squirmed as best as she could to get a glimpse of the situation. She pressed an eye to the light, squinting as the edges blurred. The young researcher's breath caught in her throat. It looked like her. _Something _knocked out the girl, placing her body on a table. The curves of the table represented evil connotations. A chill sped up her spine. A jingle followed by the clangs of clamps snapping shut drowned out any other sounds.

_The creature_ woke the woman up. It drew something from a bag, something that was to Mai's horror—a spike. Sharp metal touched pale skin, and a crimson dot appeared, growing.

It was a ritual. The man knew what he was doing. The mumbled curses he spoke weren't incoherent. The blood of the girl, now panicking, drew a thin, red line down her breast. What happened then was too fast for Mai to turn away. After tracing symbols in her flesh, the spike rose.

And fell slowly. She couldn't tear her eyes away in time, or cover her ears in time to miss the sick thump. A wet slurping sound followed as the _thing _wrenched the spike from the girl's heart. blood poured fro the gaping wound. As she was still alive, he rammed the large nail into the girl's lower areas, causing her to gasp and twitch one more time before she began to still—or should have. Her limbs twitched—and did not stop, as if her body was bound to re-live her horrid fate for eternity. Mai turned her eyes away, sobbing as the splashes quieted rather slowly.

Drip.

Mai closed her eyes. _Sleep. Astral project. Anywhere but here. Naru. Gene. Help…_

Drip.

And suddenly, silence. She was gone. Naru was in front of her, in his desk. She relaxed.

"It was a dream. A dream. Thank god…" she breathed a sigh of relief as she walked toward him.

It hit her hard when she realized she wasn't walking, but drifting. But whether it was a dream or not, she had to do something. Or she _would be killed. _

"Naru."

The man started, spinning around.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm in the catacomb. I was kidnapped. There's another girl here, but she is unconscious and at least two more who are dead. I think he path is from behind one of the tables. Just my intuition. Please help me, Naru, I don't want to die!"

Suddenly, a horrible memory crossed her mind.

An insane voice shouting. "shin ni taku nai…" Urado, saying "I don't want to die."

Mai sobbed as she felt her own voice echo the words.

"I don't…want to die…" A tear streamed down her cheek.

Mai woke.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! By the way, for the future arcs I am taking (considering) requests. thanks to those of you (you know who you are!)**


	17. Chapter 17

** Sorry for the wait!**

* * *

Her stomach rumbled. Her back ached, and she could feel a cough coming on. Something was still dripping. Obvious footsteps echoed through the chamber, causing the brunette to freeze in horror. _I can't move, I can't move!_ The terrible smell of iron ripped through her lungs suddenly.

"Oh, dear gods…"

Mai was blinded as an unexpected light shone into the chamber in a thin streak. With the light, though, did not come relief but terror. Something moved to block out the majority of the light. Something of human height. _No, no it can't be! _But the figure merely threw something in the chamber and left. Something light, like a spider web sprawled across Mai's foot. She reached her hand out to brush it off and came in contact with something warm, and froze.

Mai started crying again when she realized what it was.

It took all her courage to brush down the face of the dead girl to close the eyes that were glinting in the candle-light. she wracked her brain for a Christian bible quote, thinking of what john would say. Since she wasn't Christian but this was England, Mai started chanting the only psalm that she knew.

"Remember that your compassion, O Lord, and your kindness are from of old. In your kindness remember me, because of your goodness, O Lord…"

Her voice cracked, and she pressed on, whimpering. Mai knew she had been down in the catacombs for around a day. If she wasn't killed from the monster, she would be killed from starvation or dehydration. She had to act. It was act and die quickly, or act and die slowly, in fear.

"Naumaku sanmanda basaradan kan," she whispered, unsure whether there was actually something to exorcise. Facing the area the girl had been thrown in, she whispered the nine cuts.

The door burst open.

Dry, wrinkled fingers wrapped around her arm and forcibly hauled her into the light, where Mai closed her eyes, unable to bear the brightness. Or the stench. _No, no, no. _the young researcher felt her back being slammed against something hard. A chill ran down her back as she realized some form of body paralysis was being inflicted upon her. She couldn't move. Mai dared to flip her eyes open. She didn't want to see him. She knew all too well the feeling of something unknown dripping from the table down her neck. It was the blood of a poor, innocent girl. Her hands were being clamped to the table. _No…_ somehow, her paralysis was wearing off. Elated, but even more horrified, she flipped her eyes open and struggled. She wouldn't die without a fight.

"Naumaku sanmanda basaradan kan! In the name of the lord, I command thee, begone! No, no…" The dreaded spike drew a symbol on her chest in her own blood after piercing her skin. "Rin—AAAAAAAAHHH!" Something whizzed past her head as the nail pierced her skin with a vengeance.

"Jin! Mu! Tu! Shui! Huo!" A voice yelled as Mai lost consciousness.

* * *

Oliver Davis stared at the figure on the white bed. _My fault. It was my fault. _A voice from beside him shook him from his trance.

"The weapon missed her heart but pierced her lung. we managed to save her in time, so she'll be fine in just a week or so." Ayako patted him on the back of his head. She had gotten the authority to watch the surgery. Mai had rolled out of the operating room three hours ago on oxygen, an IV, and hooked up to a number of other machines. Her breathing was stabilizing, thanks to the doctors who performed the 4 hour surgery. Apparently it had been difficult because she was dehydrated.

Naru turned to Lin. "Return to the base. I want a basic cleansing done on the entire church, the catacombs included. Have john read scriptures in every room. Every spike in that place needs to be removed and destroyed. Make positive the police squad accompany you all at all times." The man nodded but his eyes posed a question. "I will be staying with Mai in case any unknown activity has followed her. Leave Takigawa here as well. All of you, make sure that the murderer has been retained by the police."

"Understood."

The red haired woman glanced at him. "What do you want me to do, Naru?"

The ebony haired man paused. "Watch over Rae and Masako and return at night."

She paused. "But neither of them have any exorcising abilities?"

"They both do. Rae is a Tai-chi practitioner. She's nearly at Lin's level. You know Masako as well as I do."

Ayako raised her eyebrows, but did as he asked, accompanying the Chinese man to the van.

Yasuhara, recently arrived, walked over to Naru, but before he could ask a question, Naru snapped, "Do what you wish."

The student grinned and slung an arm over Naru's shoulder in a _very_ irritating way. "She'll be fine, don't worry, Big Boss!"

Naru shrugged out of his grasp. "As if I was worried."

_The least I can do is stay by her side._ Naru closed his eyes.

_I'm so sorry I didn't get to you in time, Mai. _

Mai groaned. Her body was stiff and her movements restricted. In fact, her body just wouldn't move what she told it to. She felt awfully dizzy. Her eyes flipped open, but felt the desire to close right away. An older woman in white said to her: "It's alright, honey, just rest as long as you want." Mai complied, slipping back into unconsciousness.

The next time she woke, she was in a small, white, and comfortable room. White mid-day sun shone through a window to her left and a table was placed to her right, holding a vase with flowers. Several books lay next to them, though Mai wasn't conscious enough to read what they were. She fingered her blue and light green plaid blanket, glad she was able to move her body again. For some reason, though, she felt as though she couldn't sit up. An IV sat next to her, and she shivered. _Yuck. _She _hated_ needles.

Mai's mind attempted to remember what exactly had occurred. _Oh, right, _she thought, _I got stabbed. _

"Nnh…" As if on cue, a nurse stepped into the room from around the hall.

"Good morning, miss Taniyama. I'll inform the others you are awake, then I will have to do some tests. Can I get you anything?"

Mai thought for a moment, then nodded. "Tea please," her voice said softly.

The red haired nurse grinned. "I'll be right back!"

The tea was good, but the tests were exhausting. Mai fell asleep almost immediately afterward.

The third time she awoke, she was in the same little room, all white but a few things. She felt a huge amount more awake, and noticed a faint twinge in her chest. She elevated her head, seeing the shock of contrast in a black coat strung across a chair and the light colored room.

Something was resting on the bed next to her stomach. She reached her hand out to touch it, slowly reaching her arm. Light from the window shone on her skin as she felt what was definitely—hair. A feeling of warmth filling her, Mai smiled. _Naru. _Unconsciously, she continued to pet the soft hair. _Damn you, why can't a girl have your hair?_ She smiled, wondering how long he had been there to fall asleep (something Mai had been sure never happened.) the head moved, looking up at her with tired grey eyes.

"Good morning, Naru," She still couldn't talk loudly.

Her voice seemed to make the man leap up, mouth open. "You're gonna catch flies, Naru." Mai congratulated herself on her flippancy.

"How long have you been awake?" his voice was sharp, as usual. She was surprised he didn't give a snide comment, though.

"Mmm, 'bout ten minutes." _Prob'ly longer though. _

"why didn't you wake me?" He accused.

"Didn't feel like it." _Your hair was soft. Your fault for sleeping on my bed. _

The much too handsome man beside her hesitated. She could tell he wanted to say something. He leaned forward, trapped her face with his hand glared angrily into her eyes. "I thought you were going to die, Mai."

She giggled but found it hurt. "don't be ridiculous. I'll never leave you. I proved that, didn't I?"

He rested a hand atop her head. "Yes, you did." '_Now don't you ever do it again' _were the unspoken words.

_I'm sorry, Mai._

* * *

Mai stretched. She _loved _walking around, finally able to do anything she wanted after she recovered. But of course, others were the same.

"Mai, tea!"

the girl rolled her eyes as she made toward the kitchen, but stopped as the bell on the door rang. "Is this the investigative SPR?"

Mai, completely used to responding when someone came in, was taken off guard as the young secretary answered.

"Yes, this is. Do you have an appointment?"

A young woman, perhaps twenty-five walked into the spr. She had a beaming smile that obviously took the young man off guard. (Mai snickered, retrieving tea.)

Mai smiled and handed her a cup as she responded. "Yes, I called about what we _think_ is a haunting up in the mountains?" the girl wore a flower in her hair and didn't have much of a noticeable accent, but Mai could recognize it from Wales.

She listened curiously as the girl, Dee Argall, recounted her story.

"Nee, Naru, it's a customer." She handed him tea and invited the girl in.

Mai grinned as he began asking the common questions.

"Well, my husband and I have been feeling as though there was something off lately. You see, our cabin is small but really old, and nobody would ever go all the way up there to rob anything, so it's not a robber. My husband and I have seen a few things being pushed off of shelves in the upstairs guest room, and that has scared us into thinking that something might happen in our kid's room. But both Nia and Wren have seen what they say is a ghost, but both have different opinions….you'd really have to talk to them. But anyway, both kids have felt something pulling on their blankets at night and heard a crying sound come from above their heads. My husband and I can never hear it, even when we sleep in their room."

"How old are they, your kids," Naru questioned.

"Both six."

Mai gasped. "They're twins?!"

The entire room froze.

Psychic twins.

* * *

**Don't worry, the arc with the psychic twins isn't gonna be cliche. I gave it a****_ SERIOUS_**** twist. Hehehehehee. I feel evil just thinking about it. And I'm going to try and update more often. My sports have ended, so more often now! **


	18. Chapter 18

**heyyyyy sorry for not updating in a while... hope you enjoy anyway. Please report any mistakes so they can be fixed... i don't have spell check on my current computer !**

* * *

Mai practically leaped in excitement as the van (now a truck more suitable for the terrain) came to a halt in front of a fairly large mountain cabin. It was beautiful, and there was a separate guesthouse reserved for them. Green trees framed the property along with hints of snow due to the elevation. Mai leaped from the car faster than Naru could yell at her (as the car was still moving) and…fell flat on her face.

"Owwie…" She sniffed, rubbing her wrist.

Two figures leaned above her. One stuck a hand out. "Are you alright?" and "Be careful, Ma'am," sounded at the same time. Mai glanced up to see two adorable little kids around six grinning at her. She swore her heart exploded then reformed.

"Oh my gosh…KAWAIIII!"She cried behind a hand. She knew little boys especially tended to get offended when they were called cute, so she managed it in Japanese.

The two grinned up at her. One had light brown hair and blue eyes, where the other had the same color hair and hazel eyes. The one with blue eyes and longer hair was obviously a girl, though if it weren't for that minor distinction, even their mother surely wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Suddenly, she felt a weight pressed against her shoulder and realized with a start that someone had cleanly balanced the shelves on her.

"Aw, come on!"

The girl ran up behind her, giggling. "Would you like help?"

Inevitably refusing the girl, she smiled and introduced herself.

The children, Nailina and Everett, followed behind her. The boy was rather quiet, but the girl certainly made up for it. I wonder if they really are psychic, Mai thought. She wondered offhandedly how Naru would react.

* * *

The group had set up their base in the boy's room while he shared a room with his sister. Mai fiddled with the knob on the EMW detector. They hadn't seen any actual activity, but as Naru had taken the case, Mai assumed there would be some sort of excitement. Her boss did have a knack for choosing dangerous cases, after all.

The cameras were doing nothing. Mai walked through the rooms dutifully where she spotted once again a great…

Nothing.

The case was boring. Since she had come to England, all she had seen was fruitful cases. It was nostalgic, seeing their FAILURE to find anything new like most research teams seemed to accomplish quite frequently. Another big NOTHING that was occurring was her progress in getting inside Naru's head…but that was something that could wait.

She sighed to herself. "Alright, least I can do is review the circumstances. They have disappearing items, crying at night, and stuff falling off of shelves, all of which are classic poltergeist activity, minus the crying, though I don't see any women around puberty. God, I hope it's not a doll." One thing she had learned from failures was to check for science first. "Off to the pipes."

The team had been operating for three days and nothing had been caught on tape. Nothing was wrong with the pipes. The children still complained of the crying, but none of them had heard anything. Mai plopped herself down on a couch. Much to her dismay, the door squeaked, adding to her throbbing headache. It's Naru. Great, I really feel like being ordered around right now.

"Mai."

"Yes, Oliver Davis."

He pursed his lips and procured a rolled up ancient-looking newspaper and bopped her on the head. Ignoring her fiery glare he ordered, "Mai, I have a hunch. I need you to do what you do best for a while. Snoop around and see what you can find."

_Hey, isn't that Yasu's job?!_

"It seems you did quite well sneaking into my office while I was away."

_Oh, shit._

"Ah, about that—"

He glared at her once more before turning back to his beloved computer. "I'll overlook it this time. About your job, investigate the basement one more time, but this time listen for sounds. If that doesn't work, go with tactic D. Take Takigawa. I'll have John perform an exorcism, but look around. Use the document I gave you as a basis. Don't do anything stupid. Watch out for demons. I know it's easy for you, but don't screw up. Or around."

"Thank you for that enlightening stroke of narcissism."

"Get to work."

Mai was left dumbfounded, a single eyebrow raised as her boss stomped out of the room."Who stuck something up his ass…?" She muttered.

* * *

Mai grabbed Takigawa's hand and skipped down the path to the cabin in question. He smiled fondly at her. She knew the grin was the "my little sister is so cute" smile and heeled him in the shin."Come onnnn, Naru'll get all pissy if we don't work."

"True enough!"

"Hey, why aren't there any pictures in the house?" Mai asked curiously.

"Apparently they were taken down because most loose things on tables or whatever would fall constantly." he chuckled. "Did you think you had a lead?"

She nodded, a slight pout on her lips. They came to their destination.

Mai unlocked the cellar door and took the temperature before heading to the basement. "Naru said to listen for sounds."

The monk frowned sceptically, obviously holding his tongue.

The girl paused in her work and ran a hand through her hair. She sighed and attached her pencil to the clipboard. "You're probably right."

"What?"

"I know what you're thinking, Bou-san~ I'm not quite as daft as I used to be." she sent a flat glare in his direction. "There aren't any sounds down here. There wasn't any hunch of his in the first place. He just sent us down here to get me out of the way and make sure I dont go wandering off on my own."

An awkward silence filled the air before the monk was able to break it. "Ojou-chan, do you know where all the cameras are set up?"

She nodded; she had set them up. "Why? Do you have a plan?"

The grin that covered the mans face gave filled her with exitement and a bit of a chill. "Can we get out of here without being caught?"

She nodded slowly, watching his plan form.

"Here's the plan! We catch the ghost before Naru does. Bet he has to reasses your competence after that!"

"..."

"What?"

"There was nothing in your plan that suggested how we were going to accomplish this."

He pouted. "You sound like Naru."

Of course, Mai had lapped up her brother figure's notion of escape as a kitten would milk. They had snuck out the door and taken an immediate turn to avoid cameras and were now somewhere in the forest behind the house. Mai's thoughts flickered back to the cryptic note she had left her boss taped to the roll of newspaper that rolled on the floor of the now quite empty basement.

The tingle coating her neck was likely in anticipation of the horror that would come later in the worst form: the evil lectures of Naru.

"Ne, Bou-san!"

He stopped in front of her, halfway through sneaking around a wide pine. "Shh! They'll hear us!"

"I just want you to know that this search had better yeild some results... If it doesn't, prepare for crucification..."

Both mischevious ghost hunters burst into laughter, despite their attempt to go incognito.

Calming heself, she placed a stabilizing hand on the rough bark of the evergreen tree. It was a thick forest, and quiet with only the chatter of birds and squirrels around them. piles of leaves blanketed roots from either that autmn or the last. Mai knew that the monk would be thinking: it was clean, pure. Anything humans had done that would be considered of nefarious kind was merely a part of nature. Which meant Ayako would be of little to no help on the case, if she was needed. Mai had the sinking feeling she was not.

Mai felt a surge of realization come from the tree her hand was placed on, like a memory. she removed her hand as if the tree was the womping willow. *

"Bou-san-" He froze at his name being called with such an alarmed tone. Glancing back toward the younger woman, he squinted, directing his eyes toward the tree where a foot wide spot void of bark shone golden in the evening sun.

It was scarred, the bark having been torn off years ago and a symbol of some sort carved into it's pale flesh. Slowly, the investigators traced deep scarring to where they stopped about a foot from the twisting roots. tentatively, Mai brushed away dry leaves with her pale hand. the result was nothing. There should have been something there-something that fell or was placed there for many years-they could see the dent in the sod.

The two exchanged worried glances. a pot or some object about ten inches in diameter wouldn't be hard to find on a normal property, but on a vast estate, it could be quite the challenge. Something told her not to report what she had found to the rest of the group. It wasn't that she wanted the glory to herself, but she couldn't explain why she didn't think it was a good idea. A quick glance in the direction of Takigawa confirmed her thoughts. He began piling the leaves back over their find.

As the two trampled through the leaves on their way back to the base, mai had a sinking feeling that they were gone long enough for the full wrath of the demon to come on. She was wrestling with the arrival an uncomfortable premonition, however, and she began to struggle to stay concious.

* * *

She was in a dark room. The ground was cold. For one second, she could hear the hint of a whisper:

"Where is she?" from the voice of a young girl.

"Daelynn." A man's deep voice uttered.

"She's gone now, you can't see her. It's taken her." The scratchy speech of a young woman echoed.

Another fragment of speech reached her ears.

"My annabell lee..."

She awoke with a start.

* * *

Several pairs of eyes stared down at her. She sat up clutching her head and found herself lying on a couch in the base. Without further ado, she began to relay her dream, as everone seemed to automatically expect. Madoka smirked slightly. Eyebrows raised, Mai opened her mouth to question when exactly the older woman had arrived before she saw two other pairs of familiar eyes.

"Madoka! I thought you guys were on a case!"

The blonde man answered. "We were, but it was just pipes. No actual activity." Often when she saw her foreign friends, she was elated to know the SPR gave them jobs in London, even though they mostly operated individually.

"I'm glad you guys could come. We're pretty stumped here."

A voice from the background caught everyone's attention.

"No way! Big boss can't figure out a case? Dear lord, let the sky fall..." The familiar face exchanged amused glances with John.

"YASU!" Mai tackled him with a hug.

"Yo!"

Madoka giggled gleefully. "I thought I'd steal more of japan's top students."

Yasuhara patted Mai on the top of the head. "I told you I would come, I just didnt know when. Did you miss me, love?"

She grinned widely at her friend. "Totally," came the sarcastic response. Naru's eye twitched.

"I see you've made it safely, Yasuhara-san."

The younger man turned to 'big boss' and smiled brilliantly. "Yes, as I just know you are glad to see~"

He was, inevitably, completely ignored.

Before the classic greeting between 'norio' and shounen became an argument, Naru coughed loudly and regretfully handed the spotlight to Madoka. She revealed a large notebook and uncapped a black magic marker.

"So. Mai, nothing in your dream pointed to this being a murder?" at her nod, the older woman scratched the words down on her piece of paper. she traced her lines several times for emphasis.

"I also heard Daelynn. Isn't that a name?"

Several people nodded.

"Sooo...Daelynn got a lost and had a hornets nest thrown at them, and they were allergic so they died, but somebody thought they did it on purpose so they called it murder, and then somebody else was sad because she got taken away by the coroner?" Bou-san theorized.

"Somehow I doubt it," Ayako smirked.

"Where did he even get the hornets nest?" Masako huffed.

Naru tapped his foot annoyingly against the floor. "Seeing as this was one of Mai's most cryptic dreams yet, I believe we should search for any evidence relating to the name Daelynn. I do not believe we can lable this as 'not murder' just yet."

"Murder death kill!" Echoed Yasuhara, earning himself a glare from Masako. mai had no doubt he had been teasing her the whole way up.

"In the meantime," Naru resumed, "Yasuhara-research Daelynn. Madoka, if you would accompany him. Masako, if you feel up to it, do a walkthrough of the house and see if you sense anything. Matsuzaki and Takigawa: exorcise the lower levels of the house. John, accompany Masako. Mai," He turned his sharp grey eyes at her. "Look back on your dream for anything you may have missed. And make me tea."

The party scurried to their respective jobs. _I suppose Lin already has his work cut out for him_, Mai thought. _And so do I, it looks like._

It was daytime, so none of the party expected any activity. Though there was no evidence that suggested ghosts appear only at night, the activity in the house seemed to be solely nocturnal. Mai stretched from her couch position and headed to the kitchen.

-(ooooooooo)-

The base was crowded with tea and half eaten food. It had begun to get dark, and the party was both getting tired and getting ready for action. Naru was positively sparking static. From frustration, Mai was sure. There were next to no leads on the case, and they were starting to believe it was the cold mountain air getting to the family. Mai still felt she should not mention what they saw in the forest and Masako had only felt a skittish presence, not that of a sad woman.

From the increase in 'static' from across the room, Mai could tell Naru would order them to begin taking temperatures at any minute. Everyone was undoubtedly getting tired, for the silence was imminent. Suddenly, they heard a scratchy voice from the back of the room.

"Redrum! Redrum!" Yasuhara giggled to himself as he held up his pinky finger and said from the back of his throat again, "Redrum!"

Masako was looking at him as if he was covered in alien slime and Madoka was doubled over laughing as he pointed to the desk where her notebook lie tumbled, upside down, and the page they were using flipped over. It did indeed look like it said redrum.

The monk had to join in. He slouched back on the couch over Ayako's lap and crossed his arms behind his head while beholding her look of ultimate shock. "Shounen is right, Naru! All work and no play makes jack here a dull boy!"

Even Naru's lips had to turn up at that one. Only Masako and Ayako seemed to be confused. Of course, there was no way to tell with Lin.

Mai shuddered. "Jee, I really hope the kids don't dress up in cute blue dresses and come ask them to play with them!"

Another rally of laughter.

"Nah, ther'd have to be two girls for that to be really creepy. Or the boy wear a wig," clarified John.

A chair clanked in the background. Mai spun from her own and was able to spot Naru quite nearly running towards John.

"Mr. Brown, prepare for an exorcism. Mai, pack up the cameras. Yasuhara, assist."

"Wait, naru, what-" the door slammed shut, and the party was left bewildered.

"He didn't just solve it did he?" muttered Mai, who was slowly rising from her chair along with Yasuhara. Masako scrambled after Naru.

* * *

**I figured about halfway through my writing that I could turn this really screwed up in very little time...but then I realized I wasn't writing Higurashi and stopped. so, there goes the evil plan, but I at least hope what comes next is unpredictable. **

**Don't be afraid to revew or suggest. No guarantees i'll accept your suggestions (no, guys, I'm not going to make mai give birth to a ghost that is named cancer and hopes to eat the world beginning with mai and naru and wants them to keep on surviving in his stomach.)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry there haven't been any updates lately. I wrote these two chapters when I was sick, so if there are any mistakes you see please tell me so I can fix them.**

* * *

The young mother and her husband stared frightfully into the man's eyes. Naru politely asked them to sit down as he called for Mai and a notepad over the walkie-talkie. The atmosphere was drenched with tension, leaving the young couple hardly any room to breathe, especially under such an intense glare. The air dissipated as Mai burst in to the room, red in the face.

"Naru," she said breathlessly.

"Prepare, Mai."

She nodded. Naru seated himself across from the clients at their table, and Mai did likewise. She shifted slightly out of curiosity as he began.

"I would like to clarify that I did not-and do not expect you to tell me family secrets or things that pain you greatly. However, the investigation has turned so that it would be necessary for me to inquire. You do not, of course, need to tell us if you do not feel comfortable, but I regret to tell you that if you prefer to remain silent, we will have to take our leave unfinished."

They nodded nervously.

"It was by pure coincidence that I have come up with the theory I possess. My first question to you is: were the twins your only children?"

Dee stared down at her hands clutched in her lap, holding back tears. Her husband, Sean, shook his head slowly.

"Thank you. The second question might be a bit touchy, I'm afraid."

"Was a young girl named Daelynn...their triplet?"

Mai nearly dropped her pencil. The shock that covered their faces was immeasurable. It looked as if they had frozen in sadness and terror, and Dee's tears began to seep down her cheecks. Sean rubbed her back, sympathy and similar sorrow written on his face. It was the woman who answered next.

"Y...yes."

Naru didn't press for more information but waited, understanding her pain.

"She...when Daenna-that was her real name-Daenna Lyn. When she was just barely two, she passed away of leukemia." The last part of her sentence was so quiet that Mai had to strain to hear it. Suddenly, something clicked. Mai directed her question to Sean.

"Was there by any chance a memorial stone in the forest?"

Seemingly drained of surprise, the man nodded. "Yes, but a tree fell on top of it and it was shattered. We took it in recently to have a new one made."

As if on cue, Naru spoke, "I know that you want her to pass on. She is only here because she believes you may be forgetting about her. She probably aged as a spirit with her siblings, and will understand if you talk to her." The family immediately understood.

* * *

Naru and Mai walked back to the base. Mai had her share of questions she wanted answered.

"So, she was really just trying to get attention?"

Naru nodded, seeing no need to explain.

"How about the woman crying then?"

Naru frowned for a moment before answering. "I doubt that it was ever a woman crying. Just a girl, and the hollow of the pipes in the children's bedroom elongated the sound."

Mai frowned at the logical explanation. "I see. I bet she was really lonely..." She felt tears gathering as she thought of a certain other twin who died young. She glanced at Naru. He harbored a look of deep reminiscence with a touch of worry...Was that sadness she saw in his eyes?

As always, acting without much thought, she reached for his hand which dangled by his side and gave it a gentle squeeze. He jumped at the contact and shot her an inquiring look that she didn't return.

"Don't worry. Gene has no doubts you haven't forgotten him... I'm sure," she corrected in a rush.

"That I have not," he answered quietly.

He didn't let go of her hand.

* * *

The next night in the children's bedroom where they religiously heard the crying, Dee and Sean climbed up to bid them good night as well as talk to them about their sister. Mai listened from below the loft where she would be able to pick up any temperature changes as well. The others waited in silence below, monitoring the cameras. She could feel tension in the air.

Dee's voice echoed from above. "Your father and I wanted to tell you about your sister. Do you remember Deanna?" after a short pause in which the children probably shook their heads, she continued. "She looked different than you two, with beautiful dark brown eyes and rosy cheeks. You remember the pictures, don't you?"

Mai could hear Nia reply "Mmmhm!"

"Good. You know how she went up to join god when she was little..."

Nia interrupted. "You said Heaven needed a new angel and God came to get her when a bad sickness took her away."

Their observer assumed Dee was in tears. She checked the temperature.

"Three degrees dropped, Naru," she said quietly.

He nodded.

"It seems as though they caught her attention."

Everett's voice was barely audible as he spoke. "Mum, is Daelynn lonely?"

Dee's voice cracked. "Yes, she is dear. Thats why, from now on, I'd like you to say something to your sister when you say your prayers, so she knows you still think about her; that way she won't be lonely anymore."

A chorus of "okay"s answered her.

"Now I lay me..." Their prayer began and ended, and the mother initiated.

"Deanna, not a day goes by that we don't think about you, dear. Even though you're not here with us, we always keep you in our thoughts. You will always be our beautiful daughter and Nia and Evvs favorite sister. No matter what happens, I want you to know that we will never forget you and we will always...always..." The young woman broke down in sobs.

Sean's voice echoed sounded though the floorboards, his words soft. "We will always love you more than you can ever imagine. we wish more that anything that you were here to laugh with us and grow up, and that we could hug you every day and send you to school and... we know that you are watching us from your place in heaven. It wont be long until we can see you again, I promise. I love you, Daelynn. Nia, Evv?"

"I miss you, Dae."

"We love you, sis."

Dee's voice took over again. "And we all say..."

"Amen!"

Mai felt a lump rise in her throat. She glanced at the temperature.

"Naru, the temp rose ten degrees."

He nodded and motioned the group to follow him back to the base.

* * *

The parting was nearly as sad as the exorcism. John had said a few words the next morning, though he knew their young ghost had found peace.

Hefting a camera, Mai jogged to catch up to Naru who was making his way towards the van.

"I'm glad that she moved on."

"As am I," he answered without turning to look at her.

"So it turns out they weren't really psychic..."

To her surprise, Naru shook his head. "They were." He didn't need mai's questioning glance to continue. "They were the only ones who could her her cries. That alone hints that they were just as telepathically connected as...we were."

She smiled sadly and seated herself in the dreaded middle seat between Madoka and Yasuhara. It would be a LOOOONG ride.

A/n( "it's spicy, it's really spicy, dammit!" Anyone who gets that gets brownie points.

* * *

Later, the party received a card of thanks that contained the information that there had been no further disturbances.

-  
Author's notes  
* yes, i referenced harry potter.  
oh my gosh, i wrote those last few parts while listening to the soundtracks

watch?v=xki61MqJ0-w  
and  
watch?v=520j1lwiBbg  
I almost cried like 8 times.

maybe it was just from memories, though. (i wish I was like brandon sanderson and was able to make my readers cry... Ill work on it!)


	20. Chapter 20

Heyyyy here's a kind of case intro/ nonsense chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

Mai coughed. She had stayed up abnormally late working on a paper for her online classes yet trying not to express her frustration for fear of disturbing Madoka in the next room. She was still extremely grateful to her for lending a bed (the only condition was shat she had to cook all the meals). The rest stayed in college dorms rented to them for an extremely cheap price by the professors as they were willing to give lectures over either religions or sciences.

_A good part of the human population enjoys what most would call common interaction with society. However, there are those who are extremely introverted as well as the opposite. A passage from "A Guide to Sociology" by James Montgomery describes..._

Her brain began rattling off the first paragraph of her paper.

"No, nonono. I worked all night on that, and I do not want to hear a word of it this morning!" She moaned and covered her head with a pillow.

Her roommate, on the other hand, had no qualms about waking her up. A loud rap sounded on the door. "Mai. Mai, wake up...MAI!"

Madoka peaked in the doorway and grinned. She disappeared for a moment and returned with a cup of ice water. "Maaaaaaaaaiiiiii."

No miracle could have saved the poor girl from her impending doom as the Madoka removed the pillow and held the cup over her ear. "I'll pour it if you don't get up in five seconds!"

"One...two...threee..." She poured.

Soaring out of her comfortable den, Mai shook her hair and dabbed furiously at her ear and neck. "Hey! What the heck happened to four and five!"

The pretty woman pouted like a child (an act that would have made anyone else look fake but only made her look cute) and put her hands on her hips. "A woman has to avoid four and five, my dear."

Mai glared at the mirror, poking the dark bags under her eyes. "I'm not quite sure what innuendo that was supposed to be, Madoka."

The ghost hunter sighed and glanced at the desk that was overflowing with papers. "when do you have to turn your paper in?"

Merely the mention of her paper made Mai shudder. She pulled on a different shirt and mumbled into her rather pitiful wardrobe. "Noon tomorrow."

"Alright then, how about we go out for breakfast and I can proofread it for you? Ill invite Masako too!"

"Really, Madoka? Thank you so much!"

* * *

Madoka had offered to treat, which took Mai by surprise because she was one of the stingiest women she had met—besides when she was spoiling someone, which was apparently her current goal. She wouldn't give a penny to Naru if he needed one. Masako came nearly twenty minutes after they arrived wearing very professional but western clothing: a black suit top with a frilly navy skirt. _It's so strange not seeing her in a kimono...but I suppose she can't wear them all the time._

"Hmmm, you should probably replace 'because' with 'due to' right here. It makes you sound smarter."

Mai hurriedly typed the change.

"Thanks again, Madoka. Sociology is an easy course, but I just _hate _the papers. Not to mention I'm juggling that along with psychology and forensics only for summer courses."

"Madoka, I disagree. Mai shouldn't lie to her professors. They'd eventually find out she has no brains anyway," quipped the doll-like girl, sipping her morning tea.

"Meanie!"

Madoka rolled here eyes and took a bite of her egg. "What college is this for?"

"Handai. I managed to scrape in and then just took the easy online classes." Mai typed while chewing her toast.

"Seriously? Handai's a first rate college!"

Mai smirked. "I have friends in high places."

With a flat look, Masako took a guess. "You had Yasuhara bribe them."

Looking hurt, Mai replied, "How could you say that! There was no bribing involved! Though I did use Yasu..."

"Hah!" She cried triumphantly. "I knew it!"

Mai ignored her pointedly as Madoka snickered into her orange juice.

"Jeesh, have you been taking lessons from Naru? Oh hey, speaking of Noll..."

Mai froze. The questioning had begun.

"What do you plan on doing? Your relationship hasn't progressed at all since he thought you liked Gene!" Madoka froze at the look she earned and glanced at Mai's love rival.

Masako dropped a sugar cube in her tea and stirred it daintily. "I can't handle long distance relationships."

Madoka and Mai forced their mouths shut. "Does that mean you don't like him anymore?"

"Of course not."

"Of course not?" Mai cried. "How is that obvious? You tried to get him for years!"

The pretty girl huffed. "Yes, well."

Madoka had to restrain herself from squealing in the store. "So you're on our side?"

"On what side?"

"You're gonna help those two get together!"

Mai groaned. "Madoka, don't drag all of london into this..."

"I won't turn down a good source of amusement," said Masako.

Mai's jaw dropped yet again. _Did she just offer to...? _"Ma...Masako?!"

They were all done with their meals, though they had barely started on Mai's essay. Masako seemed friendlier than she had in japan. To the others, it was shocking.

"Since you can't seem to get anything done yourself, it's no surprise you would ask me."

"That's not really the case..."

She was returned with a flat glare from both other women. "No, you really haven't gotten anywhere."

Mai sighed and shut her computer. "You're telling me. I don't want to go too fast and ruin our friendship...if you could call it that...and I don't want to make no progress at all. We really only hit the 'friend' stage recently!"

Madoka twirled her glass on the table. "Well, that's progress in itself, but..."

"Not good enough," Mai finished.

The woman nodded. "Honestly, girl is it because of your fashion? Do you need to just wear a bikini and seduce him? Jump on him? Maybe I could lend you a-"

"Yeah, I'm good, however much I would actually enjoy jumping on Naru."

Masako snickered. "You know, I think you just need to catch one of his weak points and use it against him."

Uncomfortably shifting in her chair, Mai placed her computer in the bag. "The only weak point I know is Gene, and that is the one button I'm not capable of pushing."

"Ohohoho how _wrong_ you are."

This caused a reaction. Both rivals sat up in their chairs. "Do tell!"

The ghost hunter paused. "Well, for one, his parents. He tries to be extra obedient on Eugene's part, I think. Another weakness... He dislikes fish, I suppose..."

"Oh, I'm glad he's at least more civil to Luella at least. They are really nice," Mai said.

"What? You know them?" Masako asked with a hint of venom.

"Yeah," she said, standing. "I asked them where to find him on the Catacombs case."

"We could totally use this to our advantage!" cried Madoka.

"You know, Madoka, if he could be captured by blackmail, Masako would've already done it."

"True enough," Masako agreed.

Madoka sighed. "You're right, Mai. The only way really is to jump him."

"Hey hey!"

"I'm serious! Gene did the same thing. He would hold down Oliver while we forced him to wear nice clothing. He hates suits. But, he wore it anyway!"

"I don't think that is the same context..." Masako said, reaching for her purse.

Mai giggled a little bit and finished walking out the door. "I wish I could have known him when he was alive."

"You're right. You two would have pestered Oliver to death. You should ask Naru about him some time."

She paused. "You think he'd tell me?"

"Of course! Is there any information he has kept from you when you ask him seriously to his face?" Madoka said.

"Well...I can think of a few things, but now I know the reasoning behind them."

"Then ask. Speaking of, Mai, there's a lecture on out of body experiences this week. I thought you might be interested. Since I have a bit of influence in the SPR, I think I could get you to talk with the guy afterward."

"Oooh, that would be great, Madoka, thanks."

At the other girl's questioning look, Madoka added, "And there's no doubt they would be honored if a famous medium showed up."

Masako smiled triumphantly.

(AN: There is an Spr lecture about OBE's on july 11th and I reeeaaaaallly wish I could go. I at least want the details of the lecture... )

* * *

Mai kicked her shoes off as she walked into their apartment and dashed into her room. She spent about ten minutes figeting and looking through her closet, finally settling on jeans and a red, fashionable top with a brown belt. The girl departed just as quickly through her room before nearly running into Madoka.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"To see Rae!"

Madoka frowned skeptically. "Oh, so you spent ten minutes looking through your closet deciding what you were going to wear to go see a friend."

"Well...I'll be sucking up to Naru after that to see if he'll take her case..." Mai said grudgingly.

"Ohoho! Can you bring a recorder so I can hear the juicy details?"

"That won't be necessary!"

Mai tried covering her bright red face as she stumbled out the door.

\(^u^)/

"MAAAIIIII CHAN!"

A girl in dark blue jeans and a shirt with the American flag on it rushed forward and hugged Mai. The other laughed and hugged her back. She was dragged to a nearby pastry store where Rae stood drooling at a Mont Blanc.

"I've never tried french cakes before...They all look so good!"

Mai chuckled into her sleeve and protested against Raes attempt to buy.

"You're trying to get a team to investigate my case. Its the least I can do!"

She gave in.

–oooooooooooo

"Rae, how bad is your case that you need a team to investigate it?" Mai asked through a mouthful of strawberry.

The other girl froze, blushing. "Well, it's not that the case is bad, it's just that..."

"Hmm?

"I...it's just that there's a lot of ground to cover, and...well...there are...mgmhfm."

"what was that?"

"There are...lots of spiders..."

Mai choked on her shortcake.

"Aaaaand I just wanted to see you guys..."

Mai doubled over with laughter. "Ha ha ha! And here I thought that you were the badass type!"

"Don't tell anyone!" Rae pleaded, face still red.

"Anyway, what are the details of this case?"

The atmosphere suddenly turned buisness-like. Mai felt like Naru as she questioned her friend on the details of the case. It was a help that Rae knew how to answer her questions and she didn't have to pry. The sound of a pen scratching replaced their words temporarily. The American glanced at the page lying on the white floral design of the table. Her mouth slowly sounded out the words she wrote. Mai realized with a start that it was in Japanese. She cursed herself; she would have to re-write it for the SPR.

"What have you been experiencing at the site?"

Rae thought for a moment. "Nothing personally, though I have seen some odd aftereffects. My host family—I'm with a college exchange program—has been experiencing symptoms such as the intense desire to sleep, though they wake up only moments later. Only as they wake up, they might experience nausea or have a fever for a short time before returning to normal. Joey seems unaffected, though. He's their son, five years old."

Mai finished scratching down the info. "Thank you. You mentioned they would feel the urge to go to sleep. When and for how long?"

"In relation to the other symptoms, it happens hours later. Usually around lunchtime or before eating. They sleep for a good five minutes before waking up and not realizing they were asleep. They shoot up as if they had a hot rod stuck up their ass. They said that they fall asleep easier when it is time to go to bed, though, too, and wake up immediately with the other symptoms in the morning."

The ghost hunter snorted. "Really ladylike, Rae."

Rae stuck her tongue out. "Hey, who all is going to investigate?"

"Naru, me, Bou san and Ayako, obviously Lin, Masako...we might call in the others, it all depends."

"My host family has sixty acres and two guest houses...I don't think housing will be a problem."

"Is there anything really unique about the case that would capture naru, do you think? Anything that points it to being paranormal?" Mai asked, crossing her legs.

"Well, we've had several doctors check them out, but nothing was off. Even their stress level was normal." Rae had a look of concentration on her face. "The site is very historical, though it's to early to say it actually had something to to with it...there are six graves I have found on that property—undocumented graves."

She raised her eyebrows. That was quite the turn up.

"I think boss'll take the case." I_f he doesn't, Ill wrangle up a team myself._

"Thanks! I look forward to seeing you out there! I'll be in london a couple of days if you need me. Here's the property information, call me when you find out if He'll take it! I'll pop in later, too." She leaped up, called a taxi and waved at Mai.

)))

Rain poured from the roof, making constant tapping noises as it shuttled out of the gutter. Paper was piled on his desk, and the heater was on, clicking as well. His colleagues chatted from outside the office, making his ears ring. Noll set his fountain pen down, sighing and running a hand through his dark hair. He hadn't had yet, and his body ached for something warm to drink. He sighed yet again and closed his eyes, resting his head on the back of his chair.. _For some reason, I feel like caramel... _His handsome features morphed to those of open shock as hands tidied up his desk and removed some of the files. A cup replaced them.

"Mai?"

"Hmmm?" Her slanted eyes looked almost closed as she sat the tea lightly on his desk. She put her hands on her hips and smiled. The girl was wearing a red top that contrasted her pale skin and made her lips look pinker. Or was it just the lighting?

Noll shook himself out of his trance and took a sip of the tea. "It's sweet."

Resting a hip on his desk, Mai nodded. "It just seems like a sweet day. Since the sun isn't out, or something..." She looked out the window. "Doesn't seem like the rain wants to stop, huh?" She glanced back at Noll. "Want Earl Grey instead?"

"No," he muttered, "This is fine."

Her eyebrows rose a bit. "Alright, I'll make myself one and be right back. I have a case you might be interested in."

Reaching in his drawer for his file book, Noll prepared to question her. He took out the black leather coated notebook and flipped to the next empty page. He winced as a flash of Mai making tea flew into his head. _And they wonder why I don't allow people to touch my things. I've had too many flashes of people in the bathroom or changing._ It wasn't long until the woman in question opened his door, dragging one of the secretaries' chairs behind her. She put it next to him and plopped down in it, crossing her legs. Looseleaf paper detailed with notes from an interview lay on her lap. She sipped her tea before beginning.

"So, This case was brought to me by Rae."

"Why couldn't she investigate it herself?"

Mai glared. "The property of the people in question is sixty acres. She said she couldn't handle it alone." she looked at him to see if he was done.

"Continue," he ordered.

"It deals with physical disturbances to the residents of the house: a couple, both around thirty. The grandfather and son have felt no disturbances."

"What makes them think it is psychical?"

Mai flipped a page over. "She said that several doctors had checked them out, and the history of the area as well as the numerous undocumented graves on site gave her the impression that there was a lot more to the case than medical issues. None of the doctors could find anything."

Noll nodded thoughtfully into his tea. "Give me your notes."

She reorganized the papers and set them in his outstretched hand. "Sorry, half of them are in Japanese. I forgot for a second. I can re write them later."

"Don't bother, you'll need to write the accounts of the actual witnesses later anyway."

"Does that mean you'll take it?!"

"I owe a favor to Miss Schmidt."

"Thank you Naru!" She cried, jumping out of her seat, making to hug him. She stopped halfway. "Whoops, I forgot you're not a touchy person." She sat back in her seat. "Ill call Rae. When can we get out there to investigate?"

"Tell her the eighteenth," he said, slightly put off. _Wait, why am I disappointed?! _He felt the heat rising to his cheeks and covered his mouth with a hand.

"Okay, can you tell them that for me? Great." She diverted her attention from the phone. "Are you alright, Naru?"

He started. Covering for his uncharacteristic display of emotion, he removed his hand and glared at her, raising an eyebrow. "I'm never ill enough to need someone like you to worry about my well being." He felt a piece of crumpled paper hit the back of his head. "See how many of the others are able to make it. We'll need manpower for sixty acres."

"Mmmkay." Mai chirped happily.

"And..."

The girl paused from lifting the phone. "What?"

Noll chuckled. He would have revenge for the last case Rae had interrupted. "Call Jace Ford."

* * *

Poor Rae.

Woah woah woah. i just saw a viagra commercial about a man making a fire. There were no women in sight. *Sigh.* I guess opposite sex relationships are outdated nowadays.

no offense.

i don't know how i could have caused offense, but dont sue me.

I beg of you.


End file.
